


Never Say Let Go

by Skeren



Category: Gundam Wing, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Duo is Jumpy, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, M/M, Manipulative Dumbledore, Reincarnation, Time Travel, but not evil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 04:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 52,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6037462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeren/pseuds/Skeren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duo, in his grief, cast a spell that would take him to the love of his life, and suddenly finds himself in the Harry Potter world. But who he's looking for isn't who you'd expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story was almost entirely written between 2005 and 2007, though chapter 21 was never posted previous to this posting. There have been no edits on this story like most I'm reposting, so what you see is the original posting format. 
> 
> This was cowritten with Hoshi-tachi up to chapter 21, and anything after that that I ever post will be purely my own work. Wish me luck everyone, I'll be marking this with a complete number of chapters for the time being until I find my inspiration again.

_AC 196_

"He isn't coming back, you know." The soft voice came from just behind Duo's shoulder, as he knelt in the dirt. "There isn't any way for him to come back."

"You're lying! Promises mean something, and he promised he'd get better!" Duo's voice was a pained hiss as he turned his head to the side, glaring beyond his shoulder to where Trowa leaned back against the lone tree in the cemetery.

"He never got better, though, did he Duo? He's gone. There isn't any coming back from that place." Trowa pushed away from the tree, resting his fingers briefly on the other teen's shoulders before he flinched away.

"Yeah? Well, I'll find a way. You just watch me." His voice had changed, icing over in determination. "You just watch me find a way."

Trowa just shook his head, letting Duo deal with his grief. He'd just lost his best friend, and he was almost certain Heero had been something closer to the braided boy. He was unaware of the extent the pilot would go to, to try and get that person back into his life, though. All because of a sickness that had no cure...

* * *

Many long weeks of research later, Duo finally came across what could only be described as a spell. He'd looked into the magic stuff before, and didn't even think before replacing the 'wand' in the spell with one of the black daggers that Heero had given him, to use as an athame. The teenager consulted the tattered book and read what part of the spell effects were visible. Those parts said: "... thus bringing that person to their soul mate. When followed exactly, then the person is taken to where they need to be..." What Duo didn't see due to the age was at the beginning it had once said: "In an irreversible act of will in which a person gives up everything, casting this spell..." And at the end, it said: "No matter where in time they might be."

"So I mix this... and then I add a dash of that... There! Now, I just have to say the incantation, wave my athame, and there I go." Duo shrugged on his backpack, a precaution in case he didn't end up somewhere he readily recognized. "Well, here goes... Expiscor pectus amator, adeo antehac!"[1] He swished his athame[2] in the indicated patterns, and a bright light flashed around him by way of answer, sweeping the boy away, into another world entirely.

Thus Duo cast the spell, not knowing that his own personal switch of athame for wand had altered the spell a little, removing the part that allowed the caster to identify who they were searching for. Unfortunately, that was the part that he needed most.

* * *

_1995, Old Calendar_

The next thing Duo knew, he was getting rained on. Sitting up, the braided teen blinked a few times as he brought up a delicate hand to wipe away the mud he found streaking his face. Come to think of it, he was sitting in mud too. Wonderful. "Goody. I arrived in a mud pit. Now where the hell is this mud pit?" Groaning, he got to his feet and tucked the athame back away into one of his pockets, as he moved towards the only building that he could immediately see. 

It turned out to be a stable. Duo's gaze flicked around the inside of the building, the chill outside only then consciously registering as he saw the ethereal horses that stood in the stalls inside. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by the almost ghostlike steeds, and he ran his fingers over the nose of the closest one. It didn't seem like there was anyone around.

"You know, I've never seen a horse that looked anything like you guys... Heck, I've never managed to get so close to _any_ kind of horse before. Ah, crap... I hope that doesn't mean one of you guys are the person I came here for, does it?" Duo was just starting to step back from the strange animal when four people shoved open the door to the stable and stopped, as stunned to see him as he was to see them. "Uh, hi?"

The big guy in the back was the first to recover and speak, though all four of them towered over Duo's minuscule height. "What're yeh doin' in 'ere?"

The Gundam pilot warily ran his gaze over the other three. One, the only woman, had a sour face and wore a witch's hat. Then there was the huge, bearded guy who was the first to speak, an old man in blue, and the last was a darkly dressed man, whose gaze hovered somewhere between condescending and amused. "What? I was just petting the horses."

"You can see them?" This came from the old man, and Duo turned his attention to him, a little smirk forming on his face.

"Of course I can see 'em, it's not like they're invisible, ya know!" The teenager shook his head in amusement, waiting for the old man to finish his joke, but the briefly sad look he got in answer was not what he was expecting at all. "What?"

The younger man, in black, stepped forward to rest his hand against the horse's nose. "These are thestrals," he said, patting it gently. "You can only see them if you have seen death." Duo's lips quirked at the man's slightly sarcastic drawling tone. He couldn't see anything different about any of the people, but the spell never said what a 'tagged' person would look like. "What were you doing here in the stables in the first place?"

Duo smirked to himself as he heard the reason. Death's horses eh? "Even if you guys are dressed up for a costume party, I _really_ doubt you would believe me. But mostly?" He shrugged, smiling ruefully at them. "I was getting out of the rain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Expiscor pectus amator, adeo antehac- to search out the heart/soul/mind of my lover to that point before this time
> 
> [2] It's a black handled double-sided blade used in Wiccan castings. It's considered a god symbol and is used as a vessel to hold power much as a wand would 


	2. Chapter 1

Duo moved down the halls with easy steps, having been taken off by the man in black and the old man almost as soon as he'd agreed to come along quietly so he could explain himself. He was slowly finding that perhaps he'd been wrong to assume these people wouldn't believe his story. The thought was only backed up as he saw a portrait move from the corner of his eye as he resisted the urge to stop and stare.

"Hey, what is this place?" he asked, reaching out and tugging on the dark man's sleeve. The man immediately turned his head and glared at him, but it simply washed over Duo, used as he was to Heero's glare o' doom.

Severus scowled at the impertinent brat, and was surprised to see the stare that had frightened many students, most often the Longbottom child, into tears have no effect whatsoever on the short boy. Frustrated, he sighed and deigned to answer the question. "This is Hogwarts. A school," he added, seeing the continued puzzlement on the boy's face.

Duo stared at him for a moment before giving him a skeptical look, his gaze drifting pointedly to the moving portraits before looking to the moving staircases they were approaching. "What would you teach in a place like this? It looks like an out of control funhouse!"

Severus twitched slightly over the comparison, having some idea as to what the boy was referring to. "It is no such thing. This is a school for magic."

Again giving in the urge to stare, Duo did so for several more seconds. "Magic..." he repeated slowly. What kind of idiot did the guy take him for? There was no such thing as-

Remembering just how he'd managed to get to... wherever the hell he was, the pilot gulped and nodded, turning his eyes resolutely back to the front. "Okay, magic it is..." He increased his pace the tiniest bit, pulling a couple feet ahead of the man walking beside him.

Severus frowned, studying the back of the teenager's head, his eyes unconsciously following the swing of his long, chestnut braid. Surely the boy knew about magic! If not, he'd have to be a, a...

"Oh, bollocks," he muttered. "He's a _muggle_."

It was a most shocking thing that Duo paused mid-step, twisting around to look at the dark-eyed man with a frown. "What did you just call me? Was that some kind of insult?" He could admit to being a little sensitive to comments directed at him, so he didn't realize he should have pretended not to hear. This was already weird enough as it was.

Resisting the urge to glare at the boy, Severus took a deep breath. He couldn't believe that he'd gotten stuck with this muggle boy! Dumbledore had better be meeting them near his office as he said he would be. "I called you a muggle, it means someone who can not do magic."

Duo gave a thoughtful pause, resuming his steps, mind going a mile a minute. This was completely insane. How could he have gotten himself into this mess? Oh yeah, Heero, magic, death's horses. Right. "I do magic..."

The Slytherin blinked after him, now thoroughly confused. Why would the boy claim he could do magic, when only a few seconds ago it had been pathetically obvious he was shocked by the very mention of it? Frowning suspiciously, he hastened after him. "Really? I would have sworn you hadn't even heard of the word before, from the way you reacted," he drawled questioningly.

To his surprise, the teenager flushed. "I've only known it was real for about ten minutes, okay? Give me a break. I've only managed it the once."

"Only once? How can I be sure it was magic at all that you are talking about? The muggles do tend to have rather... interesting things. Much as I am loathe to admit it." Shaking his head, he touched the short teen's shoulder, stopping him from heading off in the wrong direction and accompanying the motion with an annoyed glare. "To the left."

Duo huffed, tempted to glare right back with the rude treatment, but he refrained, letting himself be steered in the right direction. "It was magic. There's no way technology could do what I did." He then realized he was still being touched and blinked, uncertain why he hadn't minded. He only liked to pretend he was touchy feely. "I just never thought of it as magic. Magic is for little kids and bedtime stories."

"Really? How odd. They must be very boring bedtime stories, then..." Duo jumped. He hadn't even noticed the old guy standing just down the corridor. "I myself grew up listening to muggle tales. Such fascinating creatures."

"Albus," Severus said, feeling a pang of relief as he nodded to the Headmaster. _Perfect timing_ , he added silently. He had a feeling that if he'd been left alone a moment longer with the irritating boy he would have been tempted to wring his scrawny neck.

"Ah, Severus. I do hope nothing untoward happened on your way here? I apologize for leaving you, but Professor Umbridge wanted a word with me." The elderly wizard beamed at them, bright blue eyes twinkling.

The professor wondered then if perhaps it wouldn't have been better to be left with the boy. At least he could get away with throttling a stranger. It wasn't like anyone would miss him. He couldn't do the same to Albus though, unfortunately. "No, but it seems this boy has done a bit of magic before, yet still doesn't believe in it."

"'The boy' is standing right here. Magic isn't something you learn is real where I come from, alright? So, are you guys taking me somewhere, or what?" Duo knew he was being rude, but he was looking at the black haired guy, Severus, as he spoke. The old man hadn't done anything to him after all.

"Ah, yes, of course! This way." Dumbledore smiled yet again, turning to his gargoyle and murmuring what sounded like the name of a cake to the statue before it leaped aside. "Please, my office is just here."

Duo followed him cautiously, eyeing the gargoyle as he stepped gingerly past it. If it could move once, it could move again, and those clawed hands didn't look particularly soft or gentle. The Severus guy brought up the rear of the little procession, trodding practically on his heels as they climbed the spiral staircase revealed by the statue's movement.

In only a few moments they'd reached the top, and Albus beckoned them into his office. The braided pilot stopped dead as he spied the peculiar glittering gizmos that cluttered the room. They didn't _look_ dangerous, but hell, they didn't exactly look familiar, either. And if there was one thing that being trained as a terrorist really drove home, it was to suspect any and all unknown objects.

After all, with five Gundam pilots in one house, there was no telling if something just lying around might blow up in your face.

After a moment of waiting, he sighed, seeing the boy wasn't about to sit of his own volition. He steered him firmly into a chair before taking up a post near the wall. Even a muggle shouldn't have been eyeing Albus' trinkets like that. It was absurd. "I believe you had an explanation to make as to what you were doing in the stables."

Duo twisted to look at the younger man, then moved his chair a bit so he could see them both, though he still mostly had his back to the darkly dressed wizard, he wasn't as disturbing as the old guy. He just hoped neither noticed what he was doing. He didn't want to explain. "I did?" He paused, giving the blue-eyed man an innocent look.

Severus gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Yes, you did," he bit out warningly. "Now, if you would?"

The boy blinked infuriatingly at him. "Would what?"

"Explain!" the wizard snarled explosively, instinctively reaching for his wand. His hand paused as the boy in front of him tensed ever so slightly at the movement, his cobalt eyes fastened on his. Severus frowned as for a moment he saw something in those eyes, something that tugged at his instincts...

But then it was gone, so quickly he was half-convinced he'd simply imagined it. The boy turned back to the elder wizard, as relaxed as he'd been on the walk up. "Oh, all right, since you insist..."

Albus held up a hand, forestalling anything the teenager might have said. "No, no. Not yet." He smiled at Severus' frustrated glance. "I'm afraid we've neglected our manners terribly. My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the Headmaster of this fine establishment. My rather dour colleague there is Severus Snape, our Potions instructor. And who might you be?" he asked, fixing the boy with a curious stare.

"Me? I'd be Duo Maxwell, I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie." Quirking his lips in amusement over a real chance to use that little catchphrase of his outside a classroom, he sat back, resting his hands on the arms of his chair. "Pleasure to meet you both."

He still had his backpack, so at least he didn't have to worry about that. Flexing his arms a little, he felt the reassuring weights of the blades hidden up his sleeves, and he waited, deciding to see how the pair would react to what he'd said. The threatening motion the professor had made implied he carried some form of weapon, and that meant that the older man likely did as well. He covered his thoughts with an easy grin.

But the only reaction he received was an even brighter smile from the old man, who, nice or not, Duo was beginning to suspect was at least a touch senile. "The pleasure is ours, I assure you, Mr. Maxwell."

"Duo," he interrupted cheerfully. "Please. 'Mister' makes me feel like I've done somethin' wrong, and someone's about to chew me out for it."

That statement possibly wasn't that far off the mark, depending on how good the boy's explanations were, Severus reflected. And that reminded him... "Pleasantries aside, _Mr. Maxwell_ , we are still waiting to hear just why you decided to trespass."

The teenager frowned at him, the first time he'd seen the boy display a truly negative emotion. "There's no need to be rude about it, ya know. I was going to tell you anyway."

Severus waved him on with one elegant hand. "I'm not stopping you."

Duo felt his frown deepen as he stared at the dark man. "Fine. I was looking for a friend," he said shortly. Really, the guy couldn't expect to get what he wanted in life by being rude to people, could he? Well, sure, Duo did it all the time himself, but only when it would benefit him in some way.

"You were looking for a friend. Here?" Severus' voice was deadpan and he couldn't help an arched eyebrow, not really believing that the boy's explanation could be so simple. "How did you even get here?"

"Now, now Severus, give Duo a chance to explain between questions." Another of those oddly disturbing smiles followed the words as he looked to the braided teen again. "Though, if you would be good enough to answer his questions?"

Tempted to rub his forehead over the looming headache, Severus conceded to the unspoken demand that he be more polite. He wasn't making any guarantees though. "Yes, do continue."

"Yes, here. I got here through a tracking spell thing. That's all. I just woke up out in the rain, then you guys found me." Duo's voice was clipped, and he couldn't help that his annoyance bled into his words. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"A tracking spell?" Albus asked with some interest. "Which one did you use?"

Duo shrugged. "If it had a name, I don't know it. I found it in this musty old book, and thought it might help track He- my friend down."

"I see." The Headmaster studied him curiously. "Do you have the book with you?"

The boy slid his backpack off one shoulder, pulling it around to his front. He started to search through it automatically, then froze. "Oh, shit," he whispered, eyes wide in realization.

"Duo? What's wrong?"

Duo looked up at the old man, just a hint of panic in his eyes. "The book. The damn book, it didn't come through with me!"

"Calm down, it certainly can't be that bad." Albus raised a hand offering the boy a candy. "Lemon drop?"

He paused in his actions, lifting his head to give the man a look rife with incredulity, and he shook his head. "No, I don't take candy from strange men." He then sighed, seeing the diversion for what it was, belatedly. "A... friend gave me that book, a long time ago. It had some title on it that I'd never been able to see the point in..." He paused, thinking, and mouthed out the words. "I think it was 'The Book of Lost Legacy' or something like that."

Severus frowned, searching through his memories for anything of that name. Coming up completely blank, he glanced questioningly at Albus.

The Headmaster wore a small frown of his own, as he leaned back in his chair. "That _does_ sound familiar..." he murmured absently. "Perhaps I saw a copy of it in the library, or Aberforth mentioned it to me..."

Duo sat up straight, eyes intent. "You've heard of it?"

Albus glanced up. "I believe so, though I fear I cannot quite remember where."

The boy sagged in relief, smiling at the old man. "Thank God... I wasn't sure it would exist here."

Severus cocked his head to the side at that comment. "Exist _here_?" he asked sharply.

Duo immediately shot his eyes to the source of the question, a grin creeping across his lips to hide his slight nervousness over the question that had been asked. "Yeah. Seeing as I don't know where I ended up at all here..."

The elderly wizard's eyes lit then, and a touch of his brilliance showed before being hidden behind those determined twinkles. "You don't? I'd imagine now. Tell me, what is the place you come from like? I'd prefer to be sure of something."

Duo shot the wizard a wary look before answering, relaxing outwardly even through his own tension. "It's a lot less wet than here, and it was spring. It isn't spring here though is it?"

Albus' eyes twinkled even more brightly. "No, my boy, it isn't. In fact, we are just reaching the beginning of autumn. The students will be arriving... oh, any minute now."

The teenager nodded after a moment, accepting that as truth. "Okay. But that still leaves the question of _where_ I am. It doesn't rain like that where I come from, period."

"Where do you come from, then?" Severus asked, growing ever more curious in spite of himself.

"L2."

That was... a singularly unhelpful answer, the Slytherin decided after a moment of deep thought. The utterly blank look on Albus' face told him he didn't recognize the place, either. "El-two?" he questioned, his brow furrowing in puzzlement.

That was Duo's cue to frown at _them_. He'd thought _everyone_ knew the colonies... Then he could have hit himself, remembering what had brought him here, and what the book said _here_ might be. Either a _really_ different alternate reality, or...

"What year is it?" he asked abruptly, gaze focused on Severus' dark eyes.

The wizard stared back at him, yet again both confused and annoyed by their unexpected guest. "What do you mean, 'what year is it'?" he snapped waspishly. "It's 1995, of course, you daft idiot!"

The boy was no longer paying him any attention, though. His eyes had gone wide and lightened to an oddly disturbing near-violet color, as the blood drained from his face. A choked sound emerged from his throat as he dropped his head, cradling his face in his hands. After a few seconds they heard him speak, his voice muffled from behind his fingers. "Oh, freakin' bloody hell..."


	3. Chapter 2

Duo hadn't handled the hat thing all that well, and he couldn't help feeling a little unnerved after the reaction he'd gotten. Not a minute after the talking hat had declared him a Slytherin, he'd gotten a speculative look from both directions, then been shuffled off after getting told what he'd be telling the other students. They weren't lies, just not quite truths either. He now found himself being ushered in by the man in black himself, with the guy steering him towards the head table, apparently ignoring his stunned state while he clutched his bag to his chest. They'd used a wand thing on him to get rid on the mud, but that hadn't helped his mind deal with one important fact. Time travel was _real_.

"Three hundred years." Duo shook his head a little, standing on the dais as he watched the hat that he'd been subjected to get put onto the head of a child. He knew he needed to stop muttering about how long it was, and he decided that watching what was going on might be best.

The table he stood next to held pretty much every adult in the room, except for a rather creepy-looking guy with stringy hair that lurked in the shadows near the huge doors. He studied them carefully, knowing that unless he could get out of it- not that he really wanted to, since he had a suspicion Heero was somewhere near here- they would be the ones teaching him magic for the next few months.

The big guy from earlier was there, talking cheerfully with another... witch, he guessed, though it still felt odd to be calling someone that, especially when the woman in question seemed like such a nice lady. Another witch, the severe-looking one he'd seen earlier, spoke quietly with the sinister Severus.

And, sitting at the middle of the table was the ancient Headmaster, who was being chattered to death, it seemed, by a woman in pink who made Duo run a finger over the athame tucked up his sleeve for reassurance. Something about the way her eyes gleamed, as she glanced over the students that filled the enormous hall, put his every instinct into a screaming, thrashing panic.

Dumbledore finally managed to get away from the over-enthusiastic woman once the sorting was finished, and he drew himself to his feet after an apparently nice, but firm, reminder that he had announcements to make to the students. It didn't do much to reassure Duo when the woman turned her beady little eyes on him, and he resisted the urge to step back a few paces, reminding himself that he was a stranger in this place.

"Staff and students! Now, I'm sure you've noticed that we have, once again, gotten a new face at the head table. She's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and her name is Dolores Umbridge. She's here from the ministry, so do be on your best behavior." His blue eyes looked at the Gryffindor table especially, and there seemed to be a bit of eye contract before his gaze moved elsewhere around the hall. "Now, before I get to the other announcements, I have to introduce a new fifth-year student, Duo Maxwell. He isn't very familiar with our brand of magic, as he is coming from America, which, as we all know, has no formal schools. I'd like to ask you all to help him out as much as possible while he's here." Without further ado, he launched into his regular announcements for the school year. 

Seeing Duo had no trouble picking out what table he was supposed to be sitting at, Severus remained seated, watching the boy evaluate his new housemates with a considering eye. He only wished he knew what they were saying as Malfoy leaned over to speak to the time traveler.

"Maxwell..." Duo heard the blonde boy beside him murmur. "That doesn't sound like a wizarding name. Who were your parents?" he imperiously demanded to know, looking down his long nose at the ex-thief.

Who simply shrugged, to the surprise of all those sitting at the table. "Dunno. Never knew them, so I can't tell ya," Duo answered, unruffled by the question. He looked longingly at the empty plates on the table, wishing the Headmaster would stop talking so they could bring the food in.

The blonde's mouth opened and closed, apparently flummoxed by the unorthodox answer. "But how could you-"

"Give it a rest, Malfoy," a quiet voice said from a couple seats over. Duo glanced over at his rescuer to see a calm brunette watching the annoying blonde. "He already said he doesn't know, you can leave it at that."

Malfoy didn't want to let it go, and he frowned at the person who'd come to the new student's defense. "How could someone not know? You'd have to be an... oh." He ground to a halt, looking back at Duo with that.

"Yeah, oh. I believe the word you were lookin' for there would be an orphan." Duo met the blonde's eyes with an amused look on his face before peering in the direction of his defender. "Hey, you down there, what's your name?"

The brunet blinked, gesturing at himself. As soon as Duo nodded, a small smile crossed his face. "Blaise, Blaise Zabini."

He grinned cheerfully at the boy. "S'pose I don't really need to reintroduce myself, but I'm Duo." He held out a hand, stretching to make it reach to where the other teenager sat.

Blaise shook it, letting go quickly to let Duo relax back into his seat. "It's nice to meet you."

The blonde, Malfoy, watched them with a scowl on his face. Apparently, he _really_ didn't like being ignored. "Draco Malfoy," he interrupted, thrusting out his own hand.

Duo felt his grin fossilize on his face, though he doubted any of the children noticed the change. "Pleasure..." he said doubtfully, shaking the boy's hand and dropping it like a live coal as quickly as he could manage without seeming rude.

The blond faltered a little at the complete insincerity of the action, not all that happy that the boy seemed so displeased to meet him. He had a little more tact than he once had, but not by very much. He waited a moment, certain that the boy would at least make note of his family. When nothing was forthcoming he frowned. "Don't you recognize the name?"

Duo returned his gaze to the boy, being reminded of a few of the more uppity people he'd dealt with in boarding schools during the war. "No, should I?"

Down the table, Blaise made a choked sound from behind the hand he'd only just managed to get up to cover his mouth in time. Malfoy stared at the braided boy in utter shock, mouth agape. "How... how..."

Duo rolled his eyes. "Simple. I ain't exactly from around here, which you would know if you'd bothered to listen the old geezer up front." He jumped slightly as the platters covering the table abruptly were overflowing with food, gazing at the items with wide eyes for only a moment before grinning and digging in. After a second went by, he looked up and saw the blonde still staring at him. "Eat!" he ordered through the food in his mouth, waving a loaded fork at the boy's plate. "I'm not takin' the blame if you starve yourself to death because I won't pander to your ego."

With a still slightly-stunned nod, Malfoy obeyed.

* * *

Hermione, as always, had been paying far more attention to the announcements than either of her two companions, and she noticed a few small changes in the rules from years prior. It seemed Filch was getting more leeway. She only spared a worried glance towards the new teacher before she turned her attention to the new boy, who had apparently shocked Malfoy into immobility.

"Harry, Ron, what do you think of the new boy?" She paused, waiting for them to look at her, aware Harry had been evaluating the new kid as well. "Why do you think he's wearing that outfit? Some kind of old school uniform?"

Harry squinted towards the other side of the room, wishing he'd thought to ask Sirius or Professor Lupin about getting a new prescription. "Dunno," he answered, focusing as well as he could on the strange boy. It wasn't hard to pick him out even when he was half blind, since he was the only student there not wearing robes. "I can't really tell, but... isn't there something funny about his collar?"

The girl shrugged thoughtfully. "I can't make out what's different about it from all the way over here, but you're right. Maybe we'll see when the Feast's over."

Ron was stuffing his face on the newly-arrived food, considering that far more important than a mere new student, even if he was in their year. "Who cares? He's a Slytherin, isn't he? You'll find out the answer the first time he comes over and insults us."

The comment immediately earned the redhead a glare from his friend. "Ron! Just because he's a Slytherin doesn't mean he's all bad. He's not even from this country! We should at least try to be nice."

"But 'Mione! I wasn't saying I'd insult him first, but it's only a matter of time really." Ron shook his head, tucking into his food with a sullen air. He hadn't even done anything.

"We'll see soon enough, you know we always have at least one class doubled with the Slytherins." Harry spoke up from the opposite side of the redhead, patting his friend on the arm. "Not all of them are out to get us, even if they aren't the friendliest bunch. I'm more worried about the new professor."

The trio stared up at the vision- or rather, nightmare- in pink, and shuddered slightly. "So, mate, bets on that she's a Death Eater? Or at least evil and out to kill you?" Ron asked, nervously watching the new teacher.

"No bet," Harry said absently, rubbing the still-fresh scar in the crook of his right elbow. "Considering we're three for four Defense teachers already..."

"Should we count Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked, and held up a hand against the glare Harry instantly turned on her. "I know he's not evil, but he did almost kill us..."

"Accidents don't count," Harry stated firmly. "With all the others, it was intentional. Besides," he said, glancing again at the head table, "it's not like anything good could happen, now that he's... well, back."

"You know Fudge doesn't believe that. He'll do anything to deny that as long as possible and you know it mate!" Ron shook his head, scoffing. He'd been keeping up with the papers over the summer. "I bet the woman's a spy, that'd be about right for our luck."

Hermione nodded a little with a sigh. "Yes, I suppose it might be a bit optimistic to think a woman from the ministry would be good for the school, but I won't judge her before we see how well she teaches. She just might be what we've been needing for our classes."

"Hermione, you're hopeless sometimes, you know that?" Shaking his head, the green-eyed boy finally dug into his meal.

* * *

Duo leaned back, pushing away his empty plate and suppressing a groan at how full he felt. Honestly, you'd think he knew better by now than to pile so much food on his plate, when he knew his street-rat upbringing would force him to finish it all.

"Finished?" Blaise asked, peering at him from over his own empty dish.

The pilot grinned at him. "Yeah. I don't think I've had food this good since..." Since the last time Quatre had had him over for dinner. Then the research had kept him too busy for anything else...

But that was a thought he didn't particularly want to dwell on, so he simply shrugged and ran a hand through his bangs. "Hell, I don't think I've ever eaten this well."

The wizard smiled. "I know what you mean. The Hogwarts' Feasts are the highlights of the school year." He paused and reconsidered that statement. "Well, that and finding out what death-defying adventure Potter's gotten himself into _this_ year."

Duo blinked as he heard the description and gave Blaise an honestly confused look. He had the feeling that this was one of those times he'd regret not asking more questions beforehand, but he had to know these things. At least the other teen had scooted down so he wouldn't make a complete idiot of himself.

"Oh? Who's that?" The braided teen then wondered what sort of things would be considered death-defying around here. He only knew a bit about the era, and it was mostly through its music.

The brunette looked honestly shocked. "You mean you don't know?"

"Uh, no." Duo couldn't fathom why the boy reacted like that. "Is he someone important or something?"

Around them, the other Slytherins fell silent as they all stared at him. "How can you not know who _Harry bloody Potter_ is?" a pug-faced girl asked slowly, her expression obviously wondering if he was completely sane.

"Easy," Duo answered snappishly, feeling the first pangs of true irritation creep their way across his mind. "All I had to do was not have the first clue what you people are freaking talking about!"

"Are you sure you're not a mudblood?" Malfoy drawled with a sneer, having recovered most of his aplomb over the course of the meal. "You don't know about Potter, you didn't recognize me..." It was obvious which one he considered the greater offense. "Unless you've had no contact with decent society _whatsoever_ , the only other possibility is that you are. In which case, you have no place in this house!"

The ex-thief straightened his spine, glaring at the blonde with all the scorn he could muster. "For your information, the people I grew up with weren't exactly concerned with the outside world." More with finding enough food to survive to the next day, he added mentally. "So unless ya want to make a fool of yourself again in the future, I would suggest finding out all the facts before you open your mouth!"

Malfoy scowled at him for a second, then pointedly turned away with a sniff of disdain. Duo wasn't about to let it go at that, however. "Oh, and Malfoy?" he purred warningly as the blonde glanced back at him. "That sounded like an _awfully_ insulting word. I'd suggest ya not use it again in reference to me. I might take offense."

A flicker of wariness crossed the haughty boy's face as he caught something threatening in the eyes of the braided teen, but he immediately turned up his nose, deciding to ignore it for now, though he'd think about it later. Instead he decided to jeer, wanting to bring the other teen down a few pegs. "Next thing he'll be saying is that he doesn't know what Quidditch is. Or, even better, that he can't fly a broom." 

A few snickers answered the barb from around the table, but a few of the Slytherins didn't seem to think it was all that funny, looking in some other direction than Malfoy. Blaise spoke up. "That isn't fair Malfoy, even some purebloods can't fly a broom."

Malfoy sneered at him, and was about to speak when Duo interrupted him. "Well, I'll admit I've never flown a _broom_ before, but I won't have anyone sayin' I can't fly," he said, fixing each of them with a steely eye that matched his hard tone.

The blonde Slytherin frowned, confused. "What else is there to fly?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Duo smirked at him, and, seeing that other students were finally beginning to leave the hall, stood up. "Ya know, Malfoy, I'll just have ta show you some time." He knew the twentieth century didn't have anything decently spaceworthy, but from what he recalled, they _did_ have some decent copters...

The Slytherin prefect got up about then, waving his arms. "First years, come this way, I'll show you how to get to the dorms."

Duo glanced over to the girl and then looked back to Malfoy with a smirk. "I'll just have to get someone to show me how to ride a broom, then you can see how it works with someone who's born to fly." 

He picked up his bag, quickly heading off in the right direction before all the new kids left. He felt rather annoyed he was as short as some of the taller eleven-year-olds, but ignored it. He was sixteen, he'd act like it. Even if he had been told he was getting put into fifth year with tutors.


	4. Chapter 3

The prefect (who had introduced himself as Theodore Nott) stopped Duo and the group of first years in front of a featureless stretch of damp stone wall. "This," he announced in ringing tones, "is the entrance to our common room. Mark it well; it's very easy to get lost down here. If you get lost, just ask one of the older Slytherins to help you."

He paused for a moment, waiting until each of the group had nodded. Duo quirked a smile at him instead. "All right. Now, to get in you have to know the password. It changes every week, so every Sunday evening ask either myself or Pansy Parkinson for the new password. This week's password is Spartacus." All of the eleven-year-olds 'oohed' and 'ahhed' as the wall behind him slid aside.

Inside was a low-ceilinged, rather dimly lit room. An ornate fireplace provided most of the light and a negligible amount of warmth, while a few hanging lamps made the rest. The furniture was mostly leather, running heavily to wing-backed chairs and low-slung couches. Duo shivered in the chill that pervaded the air, and jumped as Blaise's voice spoke from behind.

"Don't worry," the wizard said with a slight smile. "Our dorms are much more... welcoming. And warm," he added, seeing Duo's shivers.

The teenager sent him a relieved grin. "Good. I don't know how you people can stand the cold. Where the hell is this place, anyway, under the ocean?" he asked, eyeing the dampness that slowly seeped from the walls.

"The lake, actually," Blaise answered, leading him further into the room. "Come on," he said, heading towards a flight of stairs that led even further down. "I'll show you where we sleep."

Duo eyed the boy in front of him consideringly, as though making sure that he wasn't joking. When he confirmed that he was, indeed, being serious about the lake thing, he shook his head. "This school is freaky, you know that?" 

The shorter haired boy simply shook his head in amusement, pointing out a door that had a silver number five hanging over it. "Since you've been put in the same year as us, you'll be sleeping in here." He pushed open the door, showing six beds, only one of which, towards the back of the room and directly across from the door, had no trunk or belongings. "Looks like they already made a bed for you."

The braided teen nodded, studying the bed with it's silver and dark green hangings before he tossed his bag on top of it. "Made?"

"There were only five before." That drew out a line of blinking before Duo sank onto the mattress himself, eyeing the room with a considering eye. "How old are you? I don't want to seem rude, but you look a little young to be in fifth year."

That drew an amused look and a grin before the braided teen shook his head. "I'm sixteen." At the astounded look that got, he only laughed. "I'm a little small for my age."

Blaise studied him carefully. "A _little_? What happened, you get hit with a Anti-Growth Charm while you were going through puberty or something?"

Duo blinked again. "There's such a thing as an _anti_ -growth charm?"

The other boy shrugged, sitting down on the bed with him. "Dunno, but there's a Growth Charm, so it stands to reason there'd be a counter hex to it."

"I'll say it again, you people are _odd_." Duo shook his head bemusedly, and looked around the room. Espying a trunk a couple feet from his bed, he rose and walked over to it. "What's this?" he murmured, curious.

It was made of an incredibly lovely dark wood, one that after a moment he identified as ebony. The teenager couldn't resist running a finger over the delicate carvings on the lid, and found the wood as smooth as silk to the touch. A flash of off-white caught his eye, and Duo saw a folded piece of parchment lying on the stone floor. He picked it up, and realized it was a note from Dumbledore.

_Duo,_

I hope you've had a pleasant time with your new classmates so far, and I apologize for not being able to spend more time preparing you for this world. Please, if there is anything you wish to know, simply ask Severus or myself. His quarters are only a few steps away from your dorms.

As for the trunk, it is yours. Surprisingly, as we left my office Severus was the one to point out that you could not be carrying many possessions in that knapsack of yours, so I took the liberty of procuring a few uniforms and the various schoolbooks you will need in the months ahead. The robes are charmed to be self-sizing. Sometime within the next day or two one of our professors will accompany you to Diagon Alley to purchase a wand and any other essentials you may require.

And please, have no worries over the cost. It is rare to have such an interesting student as yourself within these halls, and such entertainment is well worth such a paltry thing as money. So I entreat you, enjoy your time here to the fullest, and remember, my door is always open.

Albus Dumbledore

Eyeing the note for a long moment, Duo shook his head. "Entertainment? What am I, a vid?" Dropping the letter in front of him, he ignored Blaise's questioning look as he opened the ebony trunk, entranced by the beautiful box. Why would he give him something so extravagant? Was he trying to bribe him or something?

Shaking off the immediate questions, he pawed around in the box a bit, noting a cauldron, a set of materials for potions. He was already sure he would be leaving the knife with the set there for all eternity. It was a crappy blade. He then noted the robes, taking one out and slipping it around his shoulders. He'd just be ignoring the other clothes in the box for the time being. He'd wear his normal outfit under the robe, thank you very much. He wasn't about to switch to some plaid monstrosity that only he would likely see anyway. 

Nodding a little to himself as he refolded the robe and put it back, he noted the books with a shrewd eye before closing the trunk. "I need to get more books when I go shopping. More clothes too."

Behind him, he heard a yelp, and spun around in time to see the abandoned note go up in flames in Blaise's hand. The boy was quick to drop the sheet of parchment, and it turned completely to ashes before even hitting the floor. Duo watched with a humorous grin as he inspected his burnt fingers. "Let me guess, you got curious?"

Blaise gave him an abashed look. "Yeah... sorry. Guess the saying's true about curiosity killing the cat..." he muttered, wincing again as he saw how red his fingers were.

"Ah, but satisfaction brought it back, ne?" Duo chirruped, bouncing up. He grabbed the boy's wrist and took a look at the burns himself. "Bad, but not as bad as it could've been," he finally judged, letting go. "You've got good reflexes."

"Um, thanks, I think..." Blaise said, still rather surprised that the American wasn't angry with him for trying to snoop.

And the braided boy must have seen the slightly doubting expression on his face, because he grinned at him. "Don't worry, B, I'd probably have done the same thing myself. And then _I'd_ be the one burned." Duo cocked his head, studying him thoughtfully. "Tell ya what, to make it up to me you can show me where Severus' hidey-hole is. I need to have a chat with him."

Blaise almost choked. Sure, Professor Snape was his Head of House, so the man _probably_ wouldn't kill him if the boy ever dared use his first name, but that still wasn't something he wanted to _test_... Finally he shook his head bemusedly. If the American wanted to die horribly, it really wasn't his place to stop him. "Sure," he said with a quirked smile. "I'll show you where he is. I need to go to the Hospital Wing anyway." He winced at the thought. Madame Pomfrey was _not_ going to be happy that he'd managed to get hurt on their first day back...

"For that? I can do something about that before we go if you want. I mean, it's not like that's _that_ serious of a burn." Having not yet released his wrist, he dragged him closer to his bunk, using his other hand do dig around for a salve. "Ah, here. This'll take the burn out of it. Made it m'self just before I came here. I didn't know what to expect y'know, so I was prepared." 

Blaise blinked as a pale green cream inside was revealed when the cap was spun open, and he held still out of pure curiosity. "What is it?"

"I call it Mordaine. I'm sure it has some official name if it exists at all here, but I don't know it. Here, if you just hold still..." He smeared a little of the substance on his fingertips, and they immediately cooled away from the burned feeling. "There, better?"

"Yeah, thanks. I tend to get burned a lot... Think you can show me how to make that? Madame Pomfrey gets a little upset that she sees me so often for burns and things..." He shot a hopeful look at the other boy as he watched him put the canister away. 

"Sure, I don't see why not, maybe you can help me catch up with all the stuff I _don't_ know about here?" He turned back around, heading for the dorm room door. "But later, I wanna bug Severus."

Blaise stared after him for a moment, then followed, resigned. Damn, but that boy _did_ have a death wish...

It was only a couple minutes later, and a few twists and turns along Hogwarts' maze of corridors, that the wizard was pulling Duo to a halt beside an imposing, darkly finished wooden door. Undaunted, the braided pilot pounded loudly on it, without pausing for a break. After all, it was more annoying that way.

After about a minute of the noise and wide-eyed looks from Blaise, and just as Duo's fist was starting to hurt, Severus pulled open the door with a scowl. " _What_?"

Of course, then he had to lean back quickly, since Duo wasn't able to stop his fist quite in time. "Oops..." the boy muttered sheepishly, pulling his hand back down. Then, in a lightning-fast change of disposition, he beamed at the hawk-nosed professor. "Heya, Sev! Dumbledore said it'd be a good idea to come have a chat with ya, so here I am!"

Severus stared down at him and felt his own hands curling into fists at his sides. Oh, how wonderful it would feel to grasp that slender neck in his fingers and listen to the boy gasp for breath and beg for his life...

He was about to do it, too, when he saw movement from the corner of his eye and looked up to see a _very_ pale Blaise Zabini slowly stepping away from the object of his wrath. He relaxed slightly, giving him a mental nod of approval at the intelligent action, even if it wouldn't be necessary. After all, Albus would have his head if he found that Severus had murdered one student in front of another...

No, no, it would be best if he waited until there was no one around to see, and _then_ strangled the infuriating little monster.

When Severus didn't immediately move out of the doorway to let him in, Duo waited. Blaise shifted off to his left, not sure if he should leave to let his companion get murdered or not. Finally, the braided teen heaved an exaggerated sigh and put his palm on the taller figure's chest, nudging him aside so that he could slip into the room.

"Hey Blaise, see you later about that salve, alright?" The shortest of the three gave him a little wave before pulling on the older wizard and closing the door, leaving the other teen to stare in shock. It wasn't as though he'd expected his head of house to not kill the boy for actually _touching_ him after all.

As soon as the door was shut, the black haired man regained his senses, spinning on the boy as he clenched his fists, tempted to go through with his earlier impulse. The boy even went so far as to invade his private space without invitation. "Have you no respect?"

Settling himself in a comfortable chair, the teen gave the older man a particularly amused look, grinning over the glare he was getting instead of cringing like any normal _sane_ human being would be. "Me? Yeah, plenty. Now, you and I need to have a nice chat about all the things I need to know about this place."

For a moment Severus fumed, feeling his nails bite into his palms as he clenched his fists even tighter. Visions of bloody mayhem danced before his eyes, including a _very_ clear image of Duo standing in clothes stained by his own blood. Then the visions were replaced by one of Albus' disapproving gaze, and he swallowed the caustic tirade that had been about to pour from his lips. "Very well," he bit out, forcing himself to sit down on his couch. "What do you wish to know?"

Duo shrugged, trying to decide what to ask first. "Well... Blaise mentioned something about a Potter kid getting in trouble, and then everyone looked at me funny when I didn't know who he was."

The Head of House grimaced. The boy just _had_ to pick the biggest hornets' nest to ask about first, didn't he? "That is a very... complicated subject," he stated, trying to figure out how to best approach it. "It will require quite a bit of explanation."

Duo spread his hands, indicating he had all the time in the world, and Severus sighed. "First I must give you a history lesson.

"A few decades ago, a promising young wizard by the name of Tom Riddle turned to the Dark Arts and was corrupted by them. He attempted to take over the wizarding world, using pain and terror to try and dominate the population under the name _Voldemort_. Many wizards fought him, and the war between them stretched on for over a decade. Until a little less than fourteen years ago, in fact."

"Voldemort... 'wings of death'," the boy translated automatically in an undertone. "What happened then?" he asked, finding himself beginning to be spellbound by the way the man spun his tale.

Severus frowned at him, not exactly pleased by the interruption. "What happened then is the reason that Potter is famous." And a thorn in my side, he added mentally. "Voldemort, or 'You-Know-Who', as many had begun to call him, attacked the Potter home on October 31st, 1981. After killing Lily and James Potter, the Dark Lord went after their son, the one-year-old Harry Potter. No one knows what happened that night, but somehow Potter survived a curse that everyone had thought unsurviveable, while the Dark Lord was reduced to a wraith-like parasite."

Duo looked thoughtful, tugging gently on his braid. "So, the kid's famous for taking out this guy?"

"Precisely." The professor leaned back, settling himself more comfortably on the couch. "Unfortunately, however, with a typical display of carelessness he didn't manage to finish the job. Voldemort returned last June." He let the grimness he felt at the thought fill his words.

The pilot frowned at his new teacher. Didn't finish the job? Hell, the kid was just a baby! What did he expect, miracles? "Somehow I get the feeling you don't like this kid much," he ventured cautiously, aware that he might be making his way through a minefield.

Severus' jaw tightened. "He's an arrogant, rude little thief," he said simply. Then he stared at the boy, puzzled, as he snickered and muttered something.

Odd, but he could have sworn the boy had said "Sounds like me..."

Quickly calming himself down, Duo sat up straight and looked at the older man. "Okay, next question. Has Dumbledore found anything else out on how I managed to get to this time?"

* * *

Outside, Blaise frowned, perplexed. What did Duo mean, _this_ time...?


	5. Chapter 4

Severus cursed when he heard movement outside his door, and he quickly whipped out his wand, waving it in a gesture that would encompass the entire room. "Silencio." He then shot a glare at Duo as though the forgetting of the spell had been his fault. "You should have said something!"

"Why, what did you just do? Was it one of those things I'll have to be learning here?" He gave the professor a wide cobalt stare, noticing that the room seemed more muted somehow now.

"Yes, that was a silencing spell. I can not believe I would forget such a thing. Your question... No. He's been quite entangled with the ministry officials this evening. You might have a few weeks to wait before that becomes at all clear." He felt strangely vindicated as the boy threw himself back, his shock apparent.

"Weeks? I can't believe this. Well, okay, so I can believe this, but isn't that an awfully long time?" He wasn't used to waiting so long for information, and he found the situation grated on his nerves. 

"No, the Headmaster is a very powerful and busy man." Speaking in very measured tones, Severus failed to get the reaction he desired at all. "What is it _now_?"

Shaking his head to stave off some giggles, he waved a hand quickly. "Sorry, you said that like I should be impressed or something. He runs a _school_ , c'mon, nobody would do that if they had better options unless they were at least a _little_ around the bend, know what I mean?"

The wizard simply looked at him, doing his best to suppress a smirk. "For your information, Albus has been asked several times to be the Minister of Magic, the head of our government. As for why he declined..." The urge to smirk superiorly was nearing overwhelming proportions, and he finally gave in to it. "However did you manage to gain the impression that he _wasn't_ 'around the bend', as you put it?"

Duo blinked at him. Surely the man couldn't be serious...? "Damn," he said after a long moment, and a maniacal grin formed slowly on his face. "I think I'm going to like it here."

Any earlier feeling of vindication vanished as Severus saw the rather disturbing grin on the child's face. Somehow, he hadn't expected his statement to go over quite _that_ way... Scowling, he decided to change the subject. "Was there anything else, Mr. Maxwell?"

The pilot thought for a moment, then brightened, remembering something. "Oh, right! Some of the other kids mentioned something about flying on broomsticks, and something called 'Quidditch'?"

The put upon teacher could only stare for a moment before he sighed, rubbing at his temples with the air of someone who'd dealt with the same tiresome thing for far, far too long. "Of course you had to come around to that topic." 

"What? Is it something taboo or something?" Duo blinked, not having expected that look to accompany his question.

"No, not at all. It is a game played on broomsticks. I believe we should see if you'd do alright on a broom at some point. Who knows, you might be able to play in the game if it rouses your interest." He gestured, indicating he really didn't want to get into the rules of the game. "You could ask one of your dorm mates about it, I'm sure one of them would love to get into a discussion with you about it."

Duo nodded, unable to think of anything else just yet, having already figured out that the Ministry of Magic must be some form of government. "Alright, was there anything you wanted to ask me before I leave then?"

Severus frowned yet again, feeling a thought itching at the back of his mind. Then he recalled something young Zabini had sad, and the frown turned to a true scowl. "I seem to recall Mr. Zabini mentioning a 'salve'. Should I understand that to mean that you administered an untested substance to one of _my_ students?" he growled menacingly.

The teenager sat up, indignant. "What do you mean, 'untested'? _I_ tested it! I've been using the stuff for years!"

"Oh? Then why don't you tell me the ingredients, so I can see whether or not you've poisoned the boy," Severus purred dangerously. Damn it, how _dare_ the whelp pull something like this?! And on one of _his_ charges, to boot?

Duo scowled at him. "Fine. It's a tincture of aloe, mint leaves, white willow bark, and some other stuff I don't know the proper names for, all right?"

The potions master paled slightly. "That you don't know the names of... For Merlin's sake, boy! Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?!"

"Hey! One is an anti-coagulant, like the willow is, only it doesn't have the same pain relieving properties! I know one gets turned into food, but is good for burns, and the other one I know how to brew into a proper tea solution so that it isn't poisonous anymore. Besides, it's good for numbing an area." Giving the professor an annoyed look of his own, he continued his little tirade. "Just because I don't know the _names_ of the stupid things doesn't mean that I don't know what they _do_. The others would come to me for my salves and things all the time, and Heer..." Duo immediately trailed off, snapping his jaw shut before he mentioned how Heero preferred him to relying only on Sally's advice. He didn't want to get into it.

"And what exactly?" Severus saw the pained look the boy sported, but he needed to know just what the boy was thinking in playing with things he wasn't nearly old enough to be an expert about, no matter where he came from. 

"My friends, where I'm from, trusted me more than they'd even try to trust doctors, alright? They may not have had a lot of choices, but there still was one. Besides all that though, if my Mordaine mix was gonna kill me, it would have _years_ ago, just like I said." Duo took a deep breath. "Besides, it'd take more than a slightly poisonous experiment to kill me."

Severus stared at him with a small frown. Was the boy really so blasé towards death that he could say something as naïve as that? Unless he managed to get in as many life or death situations as Potter did, the professor couldn't see how that was possible. But then he saw the shadow in the braided boy's cobalt eyes, and wondered...

Finding that no words would make it past the lump in his throat, the wizard stood abruptly and strode over to a set of bookcases, one of several in the cluttered room. He searched their titles for a moment, and finally found the one he was looking for.

A few more steps put him back in front of Duo, where he shoved Phyllida Spore's _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ into the boy's chest. "Congratulations. Your first assignment of the year is to _find_ each of those ingredients and memorize their properties. Then I expect you to write your recipe down, and we'll go over it with a fine-toothed comb so you _understand_ why it hasn't poisoned you."

Someone so young was _not_ supposed to accept the possibility of death so calmly. If it was the last thing he did, he'd teach the boy how fragile life was, and how precious.

Duo gave the man a small smile, taking the book in hand as it was released, and the expression seemed genuine. "I'm pretty sure I know why it hasn't poisoned me so far Severus. I'm just that hard to kill. But... I'll do the assignment. It never hurts to learn something you didn't know before."

The older man kept the eye contact with the boy, trying to convey his intentions in that look. He wanted Duo to value life more than he seemed to, but it wasn't something he was permitted to come out and say. "I want that before your first tutoring session with me."

"It shouldn't take me that long. Goodnight Severus. Sleep well." He gave the professor another of those secretive smiles before letting himself out, leaving the man to stand there staring at the door he'd just left by. 

"Sleep well? You give hints that you've nearly been killed before, and you tell me to _sleep well_?" Severus spun on his heel and stalked over to stand near his fire, staring into the flames. "How I dislike this sort of puzzle."

* * *

Duo hurried back to his dorm, and he blinked a few times as his dorm mates all seemed rather shocked that he was standing there. He didn't see what the big deal was. "What?"

Slowly, Blaise stepped forward and carefully looked him up and down. "Well, all four limbs are there... I don't see any obvious signs of mutilation, either..."

Draco Malfoy shrugged carelessly, leaning back against a nearby bedpost. "Maybe Snape's losing his touch?" he suggested, sounding bored with the entire issue. "Besides, it isn't like he's ever been harsh with us. Just with the Gryffindorks."

Two over-sized brutes of children that Duo had yet to be introduced to snickered rather dim-wittedly at the insult, while the American just stared at the boy, incredulous. "Oh, please," he said, disgusted. "Don't tell me _that's_ the best you can come up with."

The blonde pushed himself upright, scowling at the teenager. "And just what do you mean by that?" he asked coolly.

Duo shrugged, utterly unconcerned. "Just that I can come up with better insults in my _sleep_ than _that_ pathetic little thing. Who's it going to offend, a pre-schooler?"

By now sporting a full-on scowl, Malfoy took a step towards the braided boy. "Really? Let's hear it, then, Maxwell. Wow us with your incredible skills," he challenged with a sneer.

Disbelieving, the Gundam pilot stared at him for a moment, and the events of the day, from the transport spell, to finding out he was again posing as a student, to the encounter in Severus' quarters, to this stupid little argument itself... and most of all, to not finding Heero... suddenly came crashing down on his shoulders, nearly bowing him under their weight. "Not tonight, Captain Peroxide," he said wearily, turning and walking over to his bed.

God, since when had his peers seemed so much like... children?

"Captain... Peroxide?" His voice came out as a disbelieving mutter, and he gave the braided teen a wide-eyed look. Nobody had dared to call him anything like that since he was a child. Well, Potter didn't count.

Blaise snorted, rolling over in bed and closing his eyes. "Deal with it Captain. Night Duo. We get class schedules tomorrow." 

Duo only nodded a little, moving to his bed and pausing only to kick off his shoes before crawling under the covers. He'd deal with the... immature children he had in his dorm later.

* * *

"G'morning..." Blaise smothered a yawn with his hand as he dropped into the seat next to Duo. He sleepily reached for a jug of the cinnamon-spiced hot pumpkin juice that as far as he knew graced no other table but their own, and poured a gobletful of it for himself.

"Hey," Duo replied absently, turning another page in his plant book. Honestly, just how many different kinds of hallucinogenic mushrooms did this place _have_?

"Wha's that?" the brunette mumbled, taking a sip from his steaming goblet, and only then reaching for the basket of blueberry muffins that sat just in front of him on the table. 

"Severus assigned me homework last night," the pilot answered, never taking his eyes from the book. They had a plant that killed people by screaming...? Herbology was going to be _interesting_... "I'm to find all the stuff I put in my salve and report it to him."

"Oh..." Blaise's attention drifted for a moment as a small 'bang!' came from the direction of the Gryffindor table. A moment's observation led him to dismiss it as simply the Weasley twins fooling around again, and he glanced back at his companion. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

Duo grimaced, looking up at him for the first time. "They don't have any coffee," he complained bitterly. "How'm I supposed to function if they don't give me my caffeine?"

Blinking at his new friend, the short haired boy took Duo's glass and poured out some of what he was drinking, and then held the glass under the other boy's nose. "Have some sin cider."

Raising an eyebrow over the item held under his nose, the pilot cautiously took the glass, giving the steaming glass a dubious look. "Sin cider?"

"Yeah. It's been here at the Slyth table since as long as anyone can remember, but nobody else has it. It's great. I heard the name got shortened up from the cinnamon in it at first, but now, eh. Now it's as good a name as any. Doesn't hurt that us Slytherins are 'evil incarnate'." The last was said with air quotes. "It'll wake you up." He nudged at the glass. "Give it a try."

Duo sipped at it cautiously, having stumbled over the pumpkin juice the night before. He still didn't care for the popular drink. This wasn't that bad though. It smelled spicy, and tasted more like gingersnaps than anything else. "Is good."

The reply only got a pleased nod as Blaise resumed nursing his own glass, his brief chattiness quickly being passed over for the normal morning haze. 

"Maxwell. Zabini." Duo looked up again to see that Malfoy had taken a seat directly across from them. He had a brief second to wonder why the blonde was willing to be that close to them, when he could have sworn they didn't get along, before the two Brutes from last night sat down on either side of him, making the table shake. Ah, so they were _bodyguards_...

He snorted. Two seconds, tops, to take them both out...

"O Captain, my Captain..." Blaise proclaimed blearily, nearly knocking over his half-empty goblet as he waved a hand theatrically. The movement almost made him overbalance, and Duo couldn't help but wonder if the formerly quiet boy was always like this in the mornings as he reached out a hand to steady his friend.

Malfoy scowled at him, running a self-conscious hand through his gelled hair. "Shut it, Zabini," he snapped irritably, snatching a plate of bacon from the center of the table. "Crabbe, stop stuffing your face," the blonde ordered with a revolted expression as he watched the slightly larger of the two boys stuff an entire pastry in his mouth. "That's _disgusting_."

Crabbe paused, turning a little to look past the blond, communicating something to the other big boy with Malfoy before that boy shrugged and they both resumed eating apparently dismissing the concerns of their leader. The other boy just snickered before turning back to his meal. It was the small things that annoyed their friend, and he just never figured out they did it on purpose.

Duo shook his head after the interaction and continued to sip at his glass as he resumed flipping through the book, relying on his excellent memory to take care of him as he memorized herb after herb. Do I want to know why that plant needs dung beetles? 

Blaise gave a muted snicker as he looked back into his glass, not up to arguing with Malfoy just yet. "Yes sir, Captain sir!" He gave a lopsided salute before refilling his goblet.

"Has Snape handed out schedules yet?" Malfoy asked, taking a bite of his eggs.

The brunette shook his head. "No sign of him yet," he said, finally starting to become more like his usual serious self. "Maybe the strain of not killing Duo last night tired him out enough that he slept in?"

"Or perhaps Mr. Zabini should remember that patience is a virtue," replied the drawling voice of the aforementioned professor. Gulping, Blaise turned around slowly, and winced when he saw the potions master standing almost directly behind him with an eyebrow raised sardonically. The boy gave him a weak smile, and then ducked his head, trying not to dig himself into an even deeper hole.

Severus continued staring at Blaise for a moment with dark eyes, then turned his attention to the braided teenager sitting next to him. "And I see you're actually taking your assignment to heart," he commented, sounding mildly surprised. "Somehow I hadn't expected that."

For a second it seemed as though Duo hadn't heard him, but then the boy started, and glanced up. "Oh, hello Sev," he said distractedly. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. Good morning."

The professor twitched a little over the pet name and took out the schedules, accompanying them with a glare as he dared the students to make a comment. "It's Professor Snape to you Mr. Maxwell." He passed out all the fifth year schedules, but left Duo out of it.

The teen didn't even notice, having returned his attention to the book. He was three-fourths of the way through, and if they just left him alone, he was sure he'd be able to finish the volume before class...

"Mr. Maxwell." There was no reply. Severus repeated himself with a mutter of annoyance. "Mr. Maxwell." Still nothing. "Duo Maxwell! Will you spare a moment from the tome and pay attention to the fact that someone is speaking to you?" That, said in a decidedly cutting voice, finally got the boy's attention. 

"Wha?" Duo blinked a few times, turning around to look at the man as he tried to figure out why he was getting grouched at.

"I need you to come with me about your schedule." The elder wizard was vindicated by the baffled expression on the boy's face.

"Oh. Um, right then. Be right with ya Sev." He then flashed a smile at the students sitting around the table, staring at him like he grew another head... or three. He just waved a little and collected his book. "See you later guys. So, teach, lead the way."


	6. Chapter 5

"Oi, wait up, will ya?" Duo called out as he shrugged the large book in his arms into a more comfortable position. "Geez, Sev, what's with the hurry?"

Severus paused and turned to him just outside the enormous doors, his face swiftly turning a rather alarming shade of red. "Maxwell, _why_ do you insist on calling me that imbecilic- oof!" The teenager watched with some surprise as the professor stumbled forward, catching himself on one of the half-open doors. Recovering almost immediately, he spun, and glared down at the small boy sprawled on the floor. " _What_ do you think you are _doing_ , Potter," he hissed venomously.

The boy blinked dazed green eyes at him for a few seconds, then paled as he realized what he'd done. "P-professor Snape!" he whispered, voice horrified, and scrambled to his feet. Duo peered around the potions master's robes and was rather disappointed to see that the so-called savior, while short, was still a couple inches taller than he himself was. "I-I'm so sorry, sir, I was trying to catch up with Ron-"

The professor seemed to expand, suddenly filling more space than his lean frame should have warranted. "Be that as it may, that is _no_ excuse for running in the halls and assaulting a professor! I have half a mind to-"

Duo slid forward, waving his free arm around between the two as he gave Severus a rather questioning look. "Just what are you doing man? He didn't assault you! It was a little accident. Hell, you should have been lookin' where you were going instead of trying to outrun me. A little crash and burn never hurt anyone." Shaking his head, he sighed, wrapping his arm back around the book he was holding. "Just let the kid get to the hall instead of trying to scare him, alright? What did he ever do to you?"

For his part, the potion's master seemed to be in some form of shock, staring at Duo as he tried to come up with a suitable reply to the American boy's accusations. He then glared at the green-eyed boy, making his voice suitably cutting. "Go! Get out of my sight before I take points from your house!" 

Severus waited until he really was out of his sight before he turned to Duo. " _Never_ again will you question my authority _in front of my students_ ," he snarled out, looking as pissed as the teenager had ever seen him. Then he whirled about and stalked off down the corridor, with his fists clenched and his every muscle screaming with tension.

Duo let out the breath he'd been holding, staring after the older man. "Rowr," he finally muttered, and took off after him, albeit at a much slower pace.

* * *

Harry sank down onto the bench at the Gryffindor table with a sigh of unadulterated relief. " _Merlin_ ," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I thought I was dead for _sure_ that time..."

Hermione frown at him, concerned, and beside her Ron paused the torrential flow of food to his mouth. "What do you mean, Harry? What happened?"

The Boy-Who-Lived shuddered. "Snape," he answered succinctly. "I was running, trying to catch up with you guys, and I ran into him... literally."

"And you aren't dead? Did you lose a ton of house points then?" Ron's eyes widened ad he actually put his fork down, staring at Harry with no little amount of trepidation. 

The bookish girl next to the Ron elbowed him. "If you'd be quiet, I'm sure he'll tell us what happened."

Rubbing his side a little, the boy nodded, looking back at his friend with undisguised interest. "Well mate? What happened then?"

The black haired boy shook his head, still seeming mildly in shock. "Snape got yelled at by the new kid."

"You're _kidding_." Ron gaped at him, and at his friend's nod, started to grin. "That... that's... _incredible_!"

Harry felt a grin of his own slowly spreading over his face as the shock wore off. "I know... It was amazing! Snape was starting to yell about my attacking him, and the guy just got in his face and told him off!"

"Oh, dear," Hermione murmured, face worried. "What?" she said defensively as they stared at her. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm just as pleased as you are that someone finally stood up to Professor Snape, but..." She shrugged, frowning. "I'm a little worried what he'll do to that boy now..."

The two of them winced. "The poor bloke..." Ron muttered sympathetically. "I'd hate to be in _his_ shoes..."

Hermione blinked at him, then started to smile. "Ron Weasley, do I dare to believe my ears? You, feeling sorry for a _Slytherin_?"

The redheaded boy flushed, looking sheepishly down at his plate. "Hey, he helped Harry out of a jam, didn't he? And, and..." he brightened as a thought occurred to him. "Maybe the Hat sorted him wrong? I mean, he's _American_ , and you know how they are... Maybe the Hat got mixed up 'cause he was different."

"Or maybe Ron, you will just have to admit that not all Slytherins are bad, won't you? Not all students who come here are English you know." Hermione shook her head, letting a small grin cross her face. "But I suppose the only thing we can do is help the new boy out, right?"

Harry watched the pair and shook his head, finally starting to eat. "I say we get to know him and see just why he didn't look scared out in the hall. It was like he _knew_ that Snape wouldn't contradict him. And he didn't! He just told me to get away from him."

Ron shook his head, in awe. "I have to meet this bloke face to face, I just have to!"

* * *

Severus finally came to a halt in front of a time-weathered oak door, and after scowling in Duo's general direction, opened it with a key from his pocket. The boy followed him in, and only just missed being hit with by the closing door, which the dour professor had failed to hold open for him.

"Ya know, I'm startin' to get the impression you don't like me," he quipped with a humorous grin, plopping himself down in one of the uncomfortable chairs that cowered before a great monstrosity of a desk. The desk itself was covered with papers, even though the school year had only just begun.

" _Really_. I wonder why." Severus settled into the desk's leather chair with a grimace. "Now, as I don't want to prolong this any more than I have to, I need to inform you as to what your classes will be like for the next several weeks."

Duo simply grinned, fidgeting a bit in his chair. "Fire away, teach!"

The Head of Slytherin stared at him for a moment. "Oh, don't I wish..." he murmured darkly, fingering his wand.

The boy cocked his head, puzzled. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Severus shuffled a couple of papers. "Now, first of all, you need to choose which- Mr. Maxwell, are you listening to me?"

The teenager had apparently only just spotted the various jars of preserved specimens that lined several shelves in the room, and gotten up to examine them more closing. "Yeah, yeah, I'm listenin', I swear," he said absently, waving a hand as he peered even closer at a jar that held what looked like a pickled mongoose. "Go right ahead."

The professor scowled at him. " _As I was saying_ , before we can arrange your classes and tutoring sessions, you must choose your electives. The list of available classes includes-"

He was interrupted as Duo 'eeped!' and backed away from one of the jars. "Oh, what is it _now_?" he asked crossly.

The braided boy glanced back at him with wide eyes, then pointed an accusing finger at the jar. "That thing just _winked_ at me!" he said, voice a bit higher than normal.

"Yes, that particular specimen tends to be rather cheeky, like another person I'll not bother to mention. Now, if you'd sit down, we can proceed with the making of your class schedule!" 

Severus gestured, and Duo actually sat, still eyeing the jars. "You mean those things are still _alive_ in those jars?" 

"Yes, did you expect otherwise? It _is_ the best preservative for them. We are not here to discuss my office at the moment however. We _are_ here to discuss your class schedule. Now, as I was saying before your untimely interruption. You need to pick some electives that will go with your core classes. I have a list here, that explains what each is." The black haired man decided speaking all at once might get this wearying task out of the way.

"Wait, I need to know what I got for my main classes first. Don't get me wrong, the extra's are gonna be there too, but I need to know how much I already have on my plate." The pilot nodded a little and looked expectantly at the trained wizard.

Sighing in a put-upon manner as that tactic didn't work, he shook his head. "The only non-elective class you'll be placed in with your peers will be History of Magic. Most of your electives will also be with a peer group."

"Why that class? And what are the other classes I'm _not_ getting with my classmates?" He wanted that answered before they went any further, thank you very much.

Severus sneered. "Albus didn't see much point in tutoring you in History of Magic, as I understand most students simply sleep through the class anyway. And you will be receiving private instruction from Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Sinistra, Umbridge, and myself." He sighed at the blank look on the boy's face. "The subjects are Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, Astronomy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions, respectively."

Duo nodded thoughtfully. "So, at least seven classes, plus the electives... Herbology shouldn't be too much of a problem, and..." Suddenly, he stopped, and blinked. He looked up slowly, and Severus was surprised to again see that his eyes had changed from their usual cobalt to a deep violet. "Excuse me, but did you just say someone will be _tutoring_ me in Astronomy?" he asked, carefully enunciating each word.

The older man frowned, unconsciously leaning back in his seat. "Yes, I did. Every other student in your year has had four years of instruction, and you'll need to catch up-"

"That will not be necessary," Duo interrupted, still speaking in that eerily precise tone of voice.

Severus narrowed his eyes into a comparatively mild glare. "Mr. Maxwell, I hardly think that you would be able to keep up with your classmates with so much to learn. Astronomy is a very detailed subject matter, and-"

The teenager stood again, somehow appearing taller than he had been before. "I was born and grew up in space, _Professor_. I made my first space walk when I was _twelve_. I find myself seriously doubting that this Sinistra person could possibly teach me anything new about the stars."

"You... what?" He blinked a few times, trying to understand that comment. He'd known the boy was odd, and that he'd come here from elsewhere, but he had given no credence to the possible idea that the teen was really from some other world or time. "How is that possible?"

Taking a deep, rather annoyed breath, that violet glare failed to ease, though a little understanding flickered to his face. "It is possible because I am not from _now_. I told you that before. Now, _Professor_ , you will be putting me in the Astronomy class with other people my age, won't you? Cause if you aren't going to, I think we need to make a few things a little clearer."

Severus returned the glare with a stare, losing all of his own anger as he read that the boy truly wasn't lying to him. "Fine. We'll discuss those things you mentioned at another time. I have a class in an hour, and this needs to be finished before then. Astronomy at fifth-year level then."

"Good." The smile reappeared with almost disturbing ease, though the anger didn't really seem to leave him as he relaxed back. "Now, what were ya saying about electives?"

It was only twenty minutes later that Duo left the office, having chosen four electives despite the professor's warning him his class load would be hell. Care of Magical Creatures sounded like an interesting class, one that the pilot was sure Trowa would have loved. He'd always liked languages and mathematics, so Ancient Runes and Arithmancy (once Severus had explained just what the latter was) were definite pluses.

And as for Divinations... okay, he didn't actually have a legitimate reason for that, but it sounded cool. And if he didn't like it he could always drop it.

With that thought in mind, the braided boy ambled aimlessly through the dungeons of Hogwarts. Well, not really _aimlessly_ \- he _was_ trying to find the exit, after all. Damn it, he'd memorized the plans of over a dozen Ozzie bases just from a quick glance at the plans, why the hell was this castle giving him so much trouble?

He was very nearly at the point of turning around and retracing his steps when he heard some odd sounds echoing through the stone corridors. Puzzled, he slowed his pace as he came to an intersection, and was glad he did as his ears finally identified the sounds as those of a struggle.

Cautiously, the Gundam pilot peeked around the corner. Beyond, just a few yards down the passageway three young boys with Slytherin badges on their robes were huddled around something. As he watched, one of them pulled back his foot and kicked at whatever was in front of them, and the teenager heard a sharp yelp ring through the air.

It was only then that Duo realized what they were doing- torturing some poor, defenseless animal. He'd occasionally seen other kids doing it on the streets of L2, and hadn't liked it then, but as one of the scrawniest street rats on the space station, he hadn't been able to do anything about it.

Well, he was a lot bigger now, and a lot older, and there was _no_ way in hell he was just going to stand by and let someone's spoiled brats hurt another living being. "Hey!" he called out, stepping into sight, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

The reaction was almost instantaneous, as the boys instinctively flinched away from what they were tormenting. Duo almost growled as he saw the poor dog, curled in a ball on the cold stone floor. Damn, the thing looked half-dead as it was, with most of its ribs showing clearly beneath its coal-black hide. Even from this distance he could see several small wounds, a couple of which bled sluggishly.

"Nothing! We weren't doing nothing!" one of the boys, a first or second year with mousy brown hair said quickly, made nervous by the presence of an upperclassman. "Honest!"

Duo stared at the boy, astounded. The sheer _gall_ of the brat, to lie to him to his face when the evidence was only a few feet away, whimpering! " _Nothing_ , is it?" he asked, voice deceptively calm. "Would that be the same _nothing_ that is currently dripping blood on Hogwarts' nice clean floors?"

The kid blinked at him, confused. "Er, yes?" he answered uncertainly.

Duo frowned. "I see..." He seemed to think for a moment, and nodded, as though he had made a decision. Then he moved, so quickly it was only a blur to the other children, and in the space of an instant he had the boy pinned against the wall with one hand.

"Look, you little shit, I don't care what your excuse is, or who your parents are," he hissed, glaring at the now terrified boy. "I don't even care if you decide to go running to a teacher, crying about the big bad bully who scared you. If I _ever_ see you pulling shit like this again, or hear you try to lie about it, that poor mutt will have gotten off light compared to what I'll do to you. Comprendes?"

Shakily, the boy nodded and kept nodding, tears running down his pudgy face. With a contemptuous sneer that would have done Severus Snape proud Duo let the brat fall to the floor, and turned to his buddies. "And you? You get all that?"

They nodded as well, faces scared, and the pilot stared at them for a few moments. "Well? What are you waiting for? Scram!"

They scrambled to comply, one rushing forward and pulling his weeping friend from the floor before they all took off in the opposite direction. Duo rubbed a hand over his face as he watched them go, feeling suddenly old and tired. Then another thin whimper reached his ears, and he turned back around.

The rather large dog was trying to stand, and the teenager was quick to kneel and brace him with a hand. "Hey, easy there, buddy. Looks like they hurt you pretty bad..." he stated worriedly, carefully to keep his voice to the kind, gentle tones Trowa had taught him to use around hurt animals. "Here, let me take a look at ya..."

It was bad, he acknowledged, taking in the cuts, scrapes, and patches of missing fur, as well as an odd burn he realized the students must have used their wands to cause, but it could easily have been worse. The starved and possibly dehydrated state he suspected the animal was in worried him more, since they would complicate his recovery.

Duo nodded slightly, making a decision, and stood up. "Come on, boy, let's go get you fixed up. I have something that'll clear those cuts right up-"

His voice faltered as he received the shock of his life. One moment there had been nothing but a wounded, underfed dog standing before him, and then in the next the beast was overshadowed by a ghostly, shimmering mirage. It was as if a photo had been taken, and then the negative used on top of another picture. Except the... shade was of a person, and the original a dog...

That wasn't what shocked him, though. Weird things were only to be expected in a magical castle, after all. What stunned him, and left him for once in his life speechless, was that he _knew_ the person.

" _Zechs_?!"


	7. Chapter 6

Duo finally shook himself out of his stupor as the injured dog gave another whimper. "Right Zechs, I hear you. I can freak out later over seeing you here. I guess... Let's get you back to my dorm, okay buddy? God, I never expected you to be a _dog_ of all things. That's strangely humorous. Though, that isn't exactly encouraging after the whole thestral thing."

Duo was looking at the rather large beast as he spoke in the same soft, soothing voice, and he looked around, making sure nobody was around. He didn't want the other students to know how honest to god strong he was. He had nothing on what Heero once had, but you had to be abnormally strong to wield a Gundam. "Alright buddy, please don't make any loud noises, okay? I don't know how else to do this, and it's gonna hurt." 

He could have sworn that the dog nodded at him at that point, but he shook it off as being a trick of the mind. Then again, this dog didn't really look like any other kind of dog he'd ever seen, and he was, clearly, not normal if he found him in the castle. He picked the dog up, half in his arms, half over his shoulder. The dog only whined though. "I know, sorry, I know how much it hurts to be hauled around when you're hurt like that. It's chilly down here, Slytherin kids... So the dorms must be... Where exactly?" For a second the dog made a sound that almost counted as a laugh, but he ignored it. He'd figure the dog out later. "Oh don't you laugh at me."

Duo headed off in the general direction the kids had scattered to, glad he'd forgotten his book in Severus' office. It was really awkward enough to juggle this big critter without the book, let alone with it. He was relieved when he found himself in the right place. "Oh thank god. Maybe the building just wanted me to save you pup? Stranger things I guess..." 

"Password, password... uhh, Spartacus?" The pilot let out a breath of relief and set the dog down carefully before leaning around the doorframe. It was empty. "Maybe everyone else is in their first class? I _was_ wandering around for a while there. Can you walk on your own fella?" He offered his hand, only just realizing that the dog hadn't lashed out when he'd picked him up. The dog trailed him into the Slytherin common room slowly. "You really are trusting aren't you? You shouldn't be, humans are horrible creatures." 

Zechs, as Duo designated him in his mind, wuffed softly and practically shook his head. "I'm not seeing things am I? You are a smart thing aren't you? Okay, I need to pick you up to get you up to my dorm, you aren't in any condition to get the stairs. You really should be heavy pup. I'll feed you though. I know what it feels like to starve." 

The dog, as he let the boy pick him up again, couldn't help but be amazed. It was Sirius Black, not some mongrel, but even then, he hadn't run across such trusting kindness before while being on the run. But... he was wondering why the boy kept calling him Zechs.

* * *

Albus had been perfecting his 'nothing's wrong and you shouldn't worry your poor head over it' look for many decades, and at the moment, as Minerva McGonagall paced in front of his desk, he found himself very glad to have done so. He had a feeling it was only his calm exterior that kept the woman from rushing off and doing only Merlin knows what. She _was_ the Head of Gryffindor, after all.

"Please, Minerva, _sit down_. You're making an old man dizzy," he pleaded with a slight smile, poking around in a drawer until he found a slim wooden box. "Lemon drop?"

Minerva stared at him for a moment, looking a bit frazzled. "No, Albus, I do _not_ want a lemon drop!" she finally snapped. "What I _want_ is to know where young Mr. Black is! He was supposed to be here an hour ago!"

Albus winced mentally. He knew how protective his coworker was of her students, past and present, and knew also that she wouldn't let this go until she was reassured that nothing had happened to the man. "I'm sure everything's fine, Minerva. Sirius was most likely just delayed. It _is_ rather difficult to be on time when you're traveling by muggle means, you know."

The severe-looking woman seemed unconvinced, and the aging Headmaster thought quickly. "Really, Minerva, you shouldn't be worrying about this. There's nothing you can do."

She frowned at him, not yet angry with the old wizard, but very close to it. "Oh? And just what _should_ I be worrying about then, Albus, if not my former students?"

Albus glanced pointedly at the grandfather clock that stood only a few feet. "Your _present_ students, perhaps? I believe your class started five minutes ago."

Minerva stared at him, then at the clock, then at him again. "Oh, bother," she finally said, and left the office at a near run.

* * *

Duo had tended to the injuries on his furry friend, and then he gnawed at his lip, looking at the bandage covered beast that was settled on his bed, where he could pull the curtains to hide him in a hurry. He hadn't seen any other dogs since he'd come to the school the day before, though there was an array of smaller animals that made their way through the common room that morning. 

Wide brown eyes stared back at him, and he scratched at the beast's head with a little sigh. "I can't just leave you here. Not only is it risky for you, but I've been feeling lonely since I got here. Yeah, the Blaise kid is nice and all, and I haven't been here long, but it's not the same. He's just a normal, er, mostly normal teenage kid. I mean, he wasn't a pilot. Well, you haven't been a pilot yet either, but you will, when I meet you."

He just sat next to the dog in silence before getting to his feet. "Look, I'm going to call you Zechs because I really have no idea what else to call you, okay? I don't start classes or anything until tomorrow, so I guess I don't really _have_ to get that book now, but I'll drive myself up a wall talking to you. You nod and all, but you can't talk back, and I need something to do."

Pausing as he realized he was babbling, Duo sighed. "Right, well, I need to go break into Sevvie's office to get my book back. I'll be back in like, twenty minutes, tops. If you leave, I am coming after you, understand? So just stay put and heal. I'll make sure to bring you some roast from lunch if you are a good dog, okay?"

He nodded a little, then sighed as there was no return nod. "I mean it. I can be scary if I have to be. My patients need to heal properly. I'm not having anyone else die on my shift, even a great big black dog. Right then. I'll be back, so just _stay_ okay?" 

The pilot was a little embarrassed as he realized he was walking backward towards the door, and after a last worried look, he slipped out the door to get his book from the office. Maybe he'd get another while he was there.

Sirius waited until the kid had left, then transformed with a wince as his various cuts and scrapes were again exposed to air. Damn, but sometimes he hated the way clothes and things like bandages disappeared whenever he switched forms, but the actual wounds didn't.

Dismissing the pangs of his empty stomach by telling himself he'd make his way to the kitchens later on, the former convict stepped forward and tried to open the door, but to his frustration the knob wouldn't turn. How paranoid _was_ that kid? Who the hell locked the door to keep in a _dog_?

But then, the boy hadn't seemed all that stable, what with that verb tense-confused babble earlier. Sirius muttered a low congratulations to himself as he searched for another way to get out of the room. It was just his luck that he'd be late for a meeting with Dumbledore, get cornered by the three nastiest little creeps in the entire school, and then be rescued by someone who belonged in an insane asylum.

It was a good half hour before the door clicked open, and Duo had a black handled, double bladed knife in one hand, and about four books in the other. He hadn't looked around for 'Zechs' yet, as he was intent on shutting the door. "God, you'd think the guy was doing something he wasn't supposed to with all those wards on his office. It was like dealing with prison all over again. I can't believe it took me so long to get back _out_ of the damn room."

Duo turned, having missed the stunned man who'd quickly turned back into a dog the second the door swung open. Now it was just his dog, sitting near his trunk, which looked to have been pushed open. "I need to get a lock for that don't I? Or maybe I should just make one? These magic kids have no practical experience at all." He tucked his Athame away, shaking his head. "Sev has got a great set of books, y'know that? I think I'm _really_ going to like potions."

Sirius stared at the boy's sleeve for a moment, still seeing the wicked-looking knife in his mind's eye. Then he broke away, shuddering just a little at the thought he'd never have realized the kid was armed until it was too late. And there was no way of knowing just how many other weapons he had on him...

"Well, let's take a look at you." The animagus flinched as the teenager sat down on the bed, pushing his long braid out of the way, and beckoned towards him. He frowned a couple seconds later as he realized the dog wasn't going to cooperate. "You don't think I'm going to hurt you, do ya?" The American looked so genuinely distressed at the thought that Sirius shook his head and padded over, sitting docilely at his feet.

The boy checked over his bandages with a practiced eye. "Good, you haven't loosened any of 'em. Not that I thought they would be loose, I'm better at tying 'em than that, it's just that, well, I've never played doctor for a dog before. Usually it's people..."

Sirius gave him a slightly alarmed look at that statement, which the kid misinterpreted as curiosity. "Oh, that's right, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Duo," he said cheerfully, holding out a hand playfully. After a moment of indecision, Sirius lifted a paw and placed it in his hand, and Duo laughed with delight as he shook it. "Nice to meet you, sir. Can we be friends?"

The animagus shrugged and licked the boy's wrist in acceptance. Why not? It looked to him like the kid needed somebody to look after him, anyway...

If only to keep him from knifing someone.

* * *

Duo hadn't spent enough time in the hall. He sat down, ate a bit, then stood back up. Blaise wasn't about to let that happen without an argument. "Oi! Duo, where are you going in such a hurry? You don't have a class today too, do you?"

The pilot paused, noting that the outburst had drawn a little attention from the kid he'd rescued from his Head of House that morning. "Nah, I just want to get back to the dorms. And no, before you ask... I just want some time to myself. You can tell me about your classes all at once then."

The shorthaired boy hesitated before nodding on a sigh. He hadn't gotten to really talk to his housemates before, but he wouldn't try to force himself on the cobalt-eyed teen. "Alright. But I expect you to let me tell you about it then."

"Easy enough. Later Blaise." He then resumed his steps towards the door, noticing as he moved that three teens from the Gryffindor table were following him. 

He considered losing them in the crowd of students heading in for lunch, but decided there wasn't any reason to avoid them. For all he knew they just wanted to get a good look at the new kid. So, once he passed the crowd, he waited, and sure enough, there they were, looking for him. "I'm over here."

Harry spun, immediately moving in the direction of the voice as he smiled, pulling his friends behind him. "Hello again. I didn't get a chance to thank you earlier. He didn't do anything horrible to you, did he?"

Duo blinked, giving Harry an odd look. "No, he was just a little snippy about me contradicting him. Happens all the time. It wasn't like it was a big deal. Alright, how about some introductions here, okay? You likely all know my name is Duo Maxwell. So, what are your names?"

Harry hesitated, and Hermione stepped forward. "This is Harry Potter, and that's Ron Weasley. Harry's a little touchy about his fame."

Duo blinked, then nodded at Harry with an amused grin. "Don't worry, I've had a famous friend before. Best kept secret _ever_ in my own opinion." He then looked to the girl. "How about you, you forgot to say your own name."

"Oh! You're right! I can't believe I did that. My name is Hermione Granger, a pleasure."

The reaction she received was... not at all what any of the Gryffindors had been expecting.

"Granger? You mean like, the LaGrange family Grangers?" His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he looked absolutely, positively awed.

Hermione blinked at that, and took an uneasy step backward, towards her friends. "Er... Yes?"

If anything, the awe in Duo's face increased tenfold, something they wouldn't have thought possible. "My God," he breathed, staring at the bushy-haired girl. "This is... this is _unbelievable_! I never thought..." The boy shook his head, trying to gain at least a semblance of control. "It's an incredible honor to meet you," he finished with a genuine smile.

Ron and Harry shared a bewildered glance, as Hermione blushed. "Um, thank you, but... I'm afraid I'm not quite sure..."

Duo bowed to her, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to kneel at her feet. "I'm sorry, it's just... I never thought I'd meet a relative of the man who discovered the LaGrange points." He gave the girl another awed look.

At that, recognition finally flared in Hermione's eyes. "Oh, you mean Great-Uncle Josef?" The teenager nodded, his braid swinging with the motion, and she smiled tentatively. "So... you like physics, then?" she ventured curiously.

An odd look came over the American's face, and he nodded. "In fact, you could say I live physics..."

Hermione looked at him funny as the boy straightened up, folding his hands together. "Right. You just seem very... enthusiastic about meeting me."

Duo nodded with that, another grin flashing over his face. "It isn't every day you meet the most famous family _ever_. And I don't mean by money or anything, I mean, by your achievements... You have no idea how much of an honor this is for me... My friends would be so jealous." He paused with that, seemingly unaware of the puzzled looks the two boys were throwing in his direction. "Friends. Ah shi... er shoot. Look, I gotta run! I forgot all about something I have to do in my room."

Harry nodded a little. "Erm, thanks for rescuing me."

Duo glanced over, as though he'd forgotten the famous boy were there at all, and he gestured negligently. "No biggie. Sev was being an er..." He paused, looking to Hermione again. "A pain. Could I sit with you at dinner?"

Still in shock over the sudden attention she'd found herself with, she nodded. Was this what Harry had to deal with all the time? "Sure, why not."

"Thank you so much!" He snatched up her hand, giving the back of it a reverent kiss with another bow before he literally ran off. "See you at dinner!"

Hermione stared off in the direction the boy had gone for a moment, touching the back of her hand in apparent shock as she tried to process all that had happened seconds before. "He bowed to me."

"He kissed your hand too. And it seemed like he was trying to not cuss in front of you." This was from Ron, who couldn't help feeling a little jealous that the person he'd wanted to meet _so_ badly had talked to hadn't spared him a second look once he'd heard Hermione's name. "Why was he acting like that?"

"My great uncle discovered certain points in space that would be good places to build space stations. I don't know why he reacted like that though. It's not as though that many people know about it. Not really..." She shook her head, looking to her two friends in bafflement. "My family isn't all that famous at all..."

Harry shook his head and gestured for his two friends to follow. "I don't know. That's how most people react to me, and he never gave me a second look. Just where's he from anyway?"

"I thought they said America. That right?" Ron moved forward between his two friends, trying to keep pace with the conversation. 

"Yeah, America... I need to go to the library to look a few things up." Hermione's absent statement was followed with a pair of groans.

* * *

Sirius was still in dog form this time when the door swung open, but he was a little shocked over how very excited his new charge seemed to be. He almost missed the beginning of his babble altogether after being given a roast sandwich from the boy's pocket.

"You have no idea who I met today! Just now, out in the hallway." Duo sat next to the black beast, dropping the sandwich in front of him. "I mean, someone so famous... Well, maybe I reacted a little on the strong side, but c'mon, it's like, the biggest honor _ever_."

Sirius paused before swallowing, almost completely sure the insane boy was talking about Harry. Who else could he be talking about?

"I mean, someone from the LaGrange family... That Harry kid I rescued earlier is her friend! He must be like, the luckiest person on the planet! I mean, The LaGrange family! They're the reason I'm even here! Hell, but to meet one! And the mother of the man who put the colonies into space..." He paused, trailing off in absolute awe. "I totally have to be her friend. I mean, I know I overreacted _just_ a little, but you have to respect someone so great. I hope I didn't scare her off." 

LaGrange? Who the hell? Is he talking about Lestrange? Sirius was completely and utterly baffled. Especially when Harry was mentioned as being a friend of said person.

"Hermione Granger. She's prettier now than in those pictures of her with her son that I'd seen." Duo's voice had gone from fanatical to musing. "I mean sure, she was like, over a hundred in those pictures, and still in good shape, but she wasn't my age. Now she is." He only shook his head, a grin crossing his face. "Hey Zechs, I'm sitting with her and her friends at dinner, so I'll be longer getting back. So, unless something bad happens to em that I have to go all hero for, I should get back before the other boys do." 

Harry's godfather was dumbstruck. Hermione? This boy was in awe of _Hermione_? Sure, she was a nice girl and all... But still. He'd just have to find a way to follow the boy out of the room.


	8. Chapter 7

Blaise ran a tired hand through his short hair as he spoke the password to open the Slytherin door. Damn it, why did the professors have to just jump right in on the first day? Everyone's minds were still fried from the summer break, did they really expect them to actually learn before they'd gotten used to school again?

Sighing, he trudged down the stairs, and almost sighed with relief as he reached the door to the sixth year dorms. Upon opening it, he discovered his newest roommate lying on his bed, his arms behind his head and a peaceful grin on his face. The American opened his eyes almost immediately, and the grin widened. "Hey!" he called cheerfully, almost maniacally, in fact, as he shifted until he was sitting up on the bed instead.

The taller boy smiled at him and started to walk in, and stopped as he saw something that made him go even paler than usual. There, sitting calmly beside his friend's bed, was a Grim. "What the..."

Duo looked briefly confused, then comprehension dawned in his face as he followed the direction of his gaze. "Oh, right, I haven't introduced you two yet! B, this is Zechs, my newest buddy! Zechs, this is Blaise Zabini. Be nice to him, alright?"

"It's a Grim!" Blaise seemed to debate closing the door for a moment before finally closing it, uneasy about how... friendly Duo seemed to the creature.

"Is that what you call this kind of dog around here? Why would you call it that? Zechs, you know why he's lookin all terrified like that?" The American reached out, scratching behind the big black ears as he received a confused look. "You don't know either huh?"

The other Slytherin sat on his own bed and stared. "You don't mean to tell me you don't know what he is? How can you stand to get so close?"

He blinked a few times, continuing to pet his companion. "No idea, why don't you tell me."

Blaise opened and closed his mouth, trying to think of how to explain something that everyone in the wizarding world grew up knowing. "It's... the Grim is an omen of death. Everyone who sees one dies." He gestured helplessly, not sure how to explain the sense of overwhelming dread that wizards felt at the thought of Grims to someone who was muggle-raised.

And sure enough, Duo looked confused. "Okay... still not getting it, but I guess I can see where you're comin' from..." He glanced down at the enormous dog. "'Course, that's assuming Zechs here's a Grim. Are ya, buddy?"

'Zechs' shook his head, and Blaise blinked. As a wizard, born and raised, he was used to wizarding animals being more intelligent than their muggle counterparts, but...

That was pushing it. "Are you sure?" he asked as he leaned forward, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of his mind that said he would look a right idiot if it turned to really be just an animal.

"If he say's he's not a Grim, then he must get this a lot, huh pup? He needs someone to take care of him though, he's hurt. I already bandaged him up, but I can't always run out on meals like I did at lunch, it'd draw attention to my sneaking." He ruffled the black fur, seeming more than a little affectionate to the eerie animal.

"Are you sure though? He seems smarter than any dog I've ever seen..." He trailed off, shaking his head a little. He couldn't even begin to understand where the other teen had found this creature over the course of the first day on campus.

"Zechs is really the exceptional type though. He always does things that nobody thought was possible. Don't worry, he's a good critter. Besides, if he really _is_ an omen of death, then it's just fitting for him to be my pet, isn't it?" Duo smiled, and Blaise... was further confused.

The American seemed disinclined to explain that statement, though, and the young Slytherin was left blinking as Duo's stomach rumbled, and the boy bounced up off the bed and stretched. "Well? You coming?" he asked, mid-stretch.

"Come where?" Blaise asked, still a little dazed.

Duo grinned. "Dinner, of course! I'm gonna be sittin' with someone, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you came too."

The other boy sighed, getting up. "Why am I getting the feeling that your stomach doubles for your brain?" he inquired sarcastically.

The braided teenager paused thoughtfully. "Because it does?" he offered after a moment. "What? I'm a growing boy!" he stated defensively at Blaise's amused glance.

"Growing, is it?" Blaise quipped, staring pointedly at the top of Duo's head.

"Oh, shut up..." the American muttered, flushing. He pouted and marched past the taller boy, taking a swipe at the back of his head. Blaise ducked agilely, and, chuckling, followed his friend out the door.

* * *

Hermione eyed the American as he approached the table, having the urge to gape as he kept a firm grip on the sleeve of his very Slytherin companion's arm. The boy looked like he wanted to escape, and was looking horrified about where the longhaired boy was dragging him. She couldn't blame him, Slytherins never sat at the Gryffindor table.

"I didn't know you wanted to sit there! Go, eat, but leave me alone to go mope in peace!" The taller boy dug in his heels, but they were well within listening distance of the Gryffindors already seated. 

Duo snorted, moving forward to sit on the free side of Hermione, and he dragged Blaise down next to him, not allowing him to argue. "Don't be like that! You could be at least a little respectful to the lady." He then looked to Hermione and smiled, tipping his head in a gesture of respect. "Miss Granger."

Hermione smiled at him gingerly. "Er... hello." She glanced again at the very tense Slytherin behind him. "Zabini," she acknowledged politely, nodding.

"Granger," he replied stiffly, sitting very still, as though the Gryffindors now surrounding him were wild beasts, and any movement would attract their attention and their teeth.

Ron leaned around the brunette at his side, and was about to say something undoubtedly rash until Harry kicked him underneath the table. "Maxwell, Zabini," the famous Gryffindor said with an only slightly forced smile.

Duo grinned back at him, and opened his mouth. Nothing came out, though, and a look of panic flashed over the American's face. "Um..." At their looks he blushed. "I'm sorry, I kinda... forgot your names..." he muttered quickly, and so quietly that it took a moment for them to realize what he'd said.

Ron blinked a few times and leaned back before shaking his head. "The bloke really just said that, didn't he?"

"Yeah. It's kinda odd not to have someone know who I am after hearing my name." Harry returned the words just as lowly before leaning across the table. "I'm Harry Potter, and the redhead over there is my friend Ron Weasley."

Duo nodded, and he gave the three of them a relieved look. "I'm so sorry for that. Usually I don't forget a name or a face, but I guess I got so caught up in meeting someone from her family... Can we try this again?"

Harry grinned at him. Sure, it was odd not having someone recognize him, but... it was kind of nice, too. "I don't see why not," he replied.

Across from him Ron shrugged. "Fine with me," he said, brightening a bit. Maybe he hadn't exactly made an impression on his new hero, but at least the guy knew he existed now.

Duo beamed. "Great! It's good ta meet ya!"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Do you have to befriend every person you meet?" he muttered quietly. He grimaced at the teen's frown. "What, you do!" he said, raising his hands defensively. "First that creepy dog of yours, and then Gryffindors?!"

The American scowled. "He is not creepy! And what's wrong with Gryffindors?" he asked, genuinely perplexed.

The other boy opened his mouth, took stock of where they were sitting, and then seemed to shrink in place a little. "I'll tell you later, okay? I want to live long enough to graduate."

The braided teen shook his head and huffed, looking back to the others. "Honestly. It never fails. Wherever I go there has to be _somebody_ who tells me I'm too friendly. Or that my hair is impractical. Or that I'm an idiot. It's just completely unfair. Y'know? It's like the whole universe is pickin on me."

Harry couldn't help the smile that crossed his face, and he gave the boy a genuinely amused look. "I know the feeling."

Ron shook his head, snatching a roll from under his friend's fingers as he reached for it. "It isn't that bad mate. You don't have to worry about us saying any of that."

Duo laughed quietly and looked directly at Ron for perhaps the first time. "I'll keep that in mind."

Blaise, in an effort to not lose the argument, gave a last try. "Creepy." It only got a shaken head and a set of rolled eyes from his friend.

Thankfully, the food appeared at that moment, saving everyone from what could potentially have become a very awkward moment. They all chowed down, and Blaise, Harry, and Hermione all watched in awe as Duo proceeded to match Ron, notorious for being able to out eat anyone in the school, bite for voracious bite.

"Where are you putting all that?" Blaise finally asked incredulously, gaping at his diminutive friend in shock.

Duo stopped eating for a moment to look at him, expression confused, and his fellow Slytherin shook his head. "Never mind," he said, sighing.

It was a few minutes later, when the teenagers were just beginning to slow down, when they noticed how the students around them had abruptly grown quiet. Harry stared past them, green eyes wide and his fork, still carrying a load of mashed potatoes, paused halfway to his mouth.

The reason for this silence grew readily apparent, as they heard a deep, silky smooth voice come from behind them. "Mr. Maxwell," Professor Snape said menacingly. "What are you doing?"

The braided teenager looked up, craning his head to look at the older wizard until he was nearly upside down. "What does it look like I'm doing, Sev?" he asked curiously. "I'm eating!"

"Do _not_ call me that." The professor seemed to twitch, trying to restrain the urge to throttle his student, though the glare he leveled on the boy was only matched by the ones he'd inflicted on Harry over the years.

"Fine, Sevvie, what're _you_ doing here? I thought you sat up on the dais." Duo gestured to the head table and smiled, completely ignoring the look that was making everyone around him cringe. 

Snape hissed through his teeth, and he looked like he would hex the teen if given any more time in his presence than was required as he drew out a paper and dropped it on his face. "Your schedule _Mr._ Maxwell." 

The cobalt-eyed teen pulled the paper off his face and gave the Potion's Master a pout. "It's Duo! Gah, we're not even in _class_!"

The professor scowled. "Be that as it may, you-..." Suddenly noticing that they had an audience, Snape closed his mouth on the words. "I will see you after dinner tomorrow, Mr. Maxwell. I trust you remember your assignment?"

The pout deepened, almost becoming a full-fledged scowl. "Yeah, yeah," he answered grudgingly. "I've found most of 'em already, anyway..."

Snape simply nodded, taking it for granted that the assignment would be done on time. It was the rare student that dared cross him by not turning in homework on time, after all. Even his Slytherins made sure to keep up on their work.

Of course, Duo Maxwell was no ordinary student...

* * *

It wasn't until after Severus stormed away that a pair of nearly identical redheads hurried over to where Duo was sitting, calmly resuming his dinner as though his head of house had never been there. His companion, who was formerly terrified of the Gryffindors, was too much in shock to actually get a coherent word out.

"That was splendid!" It was from the left of the two brothers. 

"What was?" Duo turned his gaze to the pair, looking more confused than anything. "You don't mean all that do you? He's a big softie, really, or I'd be dead by now."

By this point _everyone_ at the Gryffindor table was staring at the American. As he watched, pretty much all the students slid further away, putting some distance between themselves and the Slytherin in their midst.

"What's with them?" Duo asked curiously, just a little hurt.

The redheaded twin on the right grinned at him. "Don't worry. It's just that you're either suicidally brave-..."

"Which means you should have been sorted in with us," the other interrupted with an identical grin.

"Right, but you weren't, so that means you're hopelessly insane," the first finished. "An' I imagine they're afraid it's contagious."

Duo blinked. "Oh..." He thought that over for a minute, and finally grinned himself. "Just like at home!" he announced proudly.

"Really?" Blaise had taken the chance to leave, so that left Duo with enough space of either side of himself for the twins to seat themselves on either side of his person.

The longhaired boy seemed a little put out that his friend had fled the attention, but he just chalked it up to the boy having some things in common with Trowa. "Yeah. Sure, I'm brave enough when I gotta be, but the suicidally brave one was my best friend..." He trailed off, sadness flickering across his face before he resumed his happy expression. "But, my friends always would say I was insane to play even _half_ the tricks I did on my buddy Fei, I mean, he was really good with that sword of his."

"Sword?" Ron asked curiously, a bit put out that his brothers were getting more attention from the American than he was.

Duo nodded. "Yep. He'd pull it out and threaten to cut off my braid whenever I pranked him." He shuddered at the very thought and hugged the aforementioned braid to his chest.

"Pranks?" The twins said together, incredulously. "You prank?" the one on Duo's right continued.

The teenager nodded. "Well, yeah, all the time. Why?"

The two grinned at each other behind Duo's back. "Oh, nothing," the boy on his left said innocently.

"It's just that we happen to be this fine establishment's premiere pranksters," the other added proudly, raising a fist into the air. "So, on our school's behalf-..."

"And for the honor of the Marauders-..." A couple seats away, Harry snickered from behind his hand. Oh, if only they knew...

"-we hereby welcome you to Hogwarts, comrade!" they finished together, throwing their arms around the startled boy.

Duo froze for a second before his eyebrows climbed up towards his hairline. "You know, I usually don't let people maul me with hugs until they at least tell me who they are." He moved his hands, plucking one of each of the twins' arms from around him with a snicker. "Duo Maxwell, at your service, and you friendly people might be?"

The brother on the right of him straightened up, a wide smile on his face. "I'm George, and he's Fred. Or, well, I'm sure some people would call him George and me Fred, but really, it's all the same to us."

The brother on the left pulled back as well with a similar look on his face. "But for now I'm Fred. I see you met our little ickle Ronniekins." 

Snickering, the American finished shaking off the hold the pair had on him and nodded before looking at the original redhead. "Why didn't you say you knew such interesting people?"

Ron scowled sullenly at his brothers, not answering. After a moment of awkward silence, Duo bent his head back to the remains of his dinner. Looking at the basket of rolls and the last pieces of roast beef on his plate as the twins started to regale him with tales of their exploits, the former thief suddenly remembered the dog waiting back in his dorms.

He reached out and snagged two of the rolls, depositing one of them on his plate and sawing the other not quite in half with his rather dull dinner knife. About half of the roast beef went into that roll, forming a far more easily carried meal for Zechs.

Duo did the same to the other one, then waited for a distraction so he could slip the impromptu sandwiches into the pocket of his robes without being noticed. And such a distraction was not long in coming.

The ghost of Sir Nicholas, as though hearing Duo's wish for a diversion, suddenly came up through the table, making the first years who hadn't really seen him the night before shriek as he pulled his head back, complaining about how he should be part of the hunt. With a smirk, the American used the chance to escape, hurrying from the hall. Somehow, those he'd been sitting near failed to see him leave, and were left staring dumbfounded at the place he'd been once they moved to resume their tales.

* * *

There was one unfortunate thing to the entire Gryffindor table incident though. Malfoy made it back to the room before Duo did, and he was still frozen in the doorway when the other teen reached the dorms. 

"Maxwell, run!" he hissed urgently, staring at something inside the room.

Duo blinked at him, and took a cautious peek around the doorway. There was nothing inside except Zechs, who was staring bemusedly at the blonde. "What are you on, Malfoy?" he asked as he drew back.

The boy gaped at him. "Are you _insane_?! There's a _Grim_ in our dorm room!"

Sudden understanding dawned in his face, and the American snickered to the other boy's amazement. "That ain't a Grim, bottle blonde, that's my _dog_. Come on, I'll introduce you two!" He grabbed the Slytherin by his sleeve and pulled him into the room.

Malfoy yelped, struggling in his grip. "Maxwell, no! Don't you dare! Let... me... _go_!"

Duo pouted, but turned him loose anyway. "Oh, all right... Weenie," he muttered under his breath.

"I'm merely not insane! What do you think you're doing? Are you telling me you brought that _here_?" The blond gestured, refusing to take even one step further into the room once he was released.

"You're acting like an idiot. Zechs, come here boy, show the helmet head that you aren't a big bad evil. You're just my big dog Zechsy, right?" The short teen held out his hand, and with a snort that sounded oddly like a laugh, the dog did as asked, coming to lean against the boy. In fact, he was larger than his 'owner'.

"Bloody insane! You don't mean to keep that here while we _sleep_ , do you? We'll never wake up again!" He was being incredibly un-Malfoylike, but he couldn't help it at the moment.

The American rubbed his ears. All this hysterical not-quite-shouting was starting to give him a headache. "Look, Malfoy. He's a _dog_. I don't know, don't care, and won't pretend to understand what ludicrous superstitions you wizards have going on, but if you don't stop yelling and calm down, you won't be waking up anyway!"

That got the blonde to shut up, though that was more from the shock of being threatened (however conditionally) than from any measure of calmness. Had that little, stuck-up, foreign excuse for a wizard just _threatened_ him?!

The longhaired boy sat plopped down on his bed, sighing with relief. The enormous black dog jumped up as well when he patted the sheets, curling up by his side so he could scratch him. After a second he looked up and saw the other teenager's affronted look. "Oh, don't get your undies in a twist, Malfoy. I wouldn't kill ya."

The aristocrat would have died rather than admit he actually felt a tinge of relief at that statement, and so he silently sank gracefully down onto his own bed. Then that relief was dispersed as Duo continued. "Well, unless you _really_ annoyed me or hurt someone I cared about, of course. But you seem like an intelligent kid... arrogance and general brattiness aside..." he added, and Draco scowled automatically. "So I'm sure you're smart enough not to do either of those things."

The blonde was about to reply when the dog crawled partially over the annoying American's lap and _whined_ at him. Now, that was a bit much. Certainly a Grim wouldn't lower itself to something like that... Certainly. Right? "Just what is that beast doing?" Hysterics finished, he finally moved into the room, eyeing the dog.

"He doesn't like it when I get mad very much looks like. Do ya Zechs? Is that why you're doing that? I won't kill Captain hair gel over there at the moment. I'm not _that_ annoyed." He ruffled the fur just beside his ears.

The big black dog nodded, and the blonde finally sat on his bed, eyeing the animal who had scared him so badly. "What kind of name is _Zechs_ anyway?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "It was a... okay, not a friend's, since we were kind of enemies for a long time... that would make him an acquaintance, I guess? So, it was an acquaintance's name. An' the big mutt... reminded me of him," he finished, rubbing the dog's head fondly. By now Zechs' tail was wagging enthusiastically, though Malfoy noticed that its motion had temporarily faltered when the braided teenager mentioned the part about 'enemies'.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the beast, vowing to keep an eye on it. No matter what Maxwell said, there was _no_ way that thing was an ordinary dog.

With a quiet sigh of contentment, Duo leaned back into his pillow and pulled a folded piece of parchment out of his pocket. "Hey, do you know where the Care of Magical Creatures class is? Is it in the stables or something?"

Malfoy shook his head, scowling again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that since he'd met the American. "No, we have to meet down at that oaf Hagrid's hut."

"Hagrid?" the teenager asked curiously.

The scowl changed to a definite sneer. "He used to be just the groundskeeper. Then, since he's one of Dumbledore's pet projects because he's half-giant, he decided to give him the teaching post. You've probably seen him sitting up at the teacher's table at meals. He's the tallest person there."

Duo blinked. "The big guy? With the really wild beard?"

Malfoy nodded. For about a minute the longhaired boy stared at him, until the Slytherin finally snapped. "What?!"

The teenager bemusedly shook his head. "Oh, nothing. Just wondering how bright it is to insult someone who looks like he could break you in half with just a finger."


	9. Chapter 9

Duo had his schedule tucked into his back pocket, and he'd discovered books for the two subjects he had that day in his trunk, which he'd shoved into his backpack before coming down to the hall for breakfast. He'd had to promise Zechs he'd take him out for a run before dinner in order to be able to leave the room at all.

"Decided to join us back at your house table did you?" There were only a couple people left, as he'd come down late, and it was a girl that was asking him the question.

"Not like I'm staying long, need to get to class. I don't think I ever got your name." He waved at her absently, knocking back a mug of Sin cider before picking up a few rolls.

"Pansy. Pansy Parkinson." She let out an aggrieved sigh, as though annoyed that she had to tell him. She'd been so sure Blaise would have mentioned her. At least in passing... Maybe he didn't have a crush on her then...?

"Right..." Duo took a bite of one of his rolls and chewed it thoughtfully. Swallowing, he pulled out his schedule for the fifth time that morning. "Hey, can you tell me where Hagrid's hut is?" he asked. "I was going to follow Malfoy down, but it was a while before I could get out of the dorm."

Pansy nodded reluctantly. "It's down by the edge of the Forbidden Forest. You can't miss it; it's the only building out on the grounds." She sniffed. "If nothing else, follow the sound of the screaming. He's rather... fond of dangerous creatures."

Duo glanced down at the book he'd found for that class, lying innocently on the table. Though, that image was rather spoiled by the belt he'd had to wrap around it to keep it from snacking on Zechs' tail. He nodded slowly. He could very well believe that someone who assigned _The Monster Book of Monsters_ as a course book liked dangerous beasties.

Finishing her meal and daintily wiping her mouth with a napkin, the female Slytherin got up. "Well, if you're ready, you can just follow me down," she offered. It couldn't hurt to be a little nice, after all. The new boy _was_ pretty cute...

"Oh, and you need to stroke its spine," she added with an amused smile, pointing at the book. "Settles it right down..."

Duo blinked, then smiled at her, getting to his feet as he tucked a couple rolls into a napkin in his bag, looking at the book. "Thanks. I think that'll help a lot."

She only nodded, turning to head down to the class. "Not that I usually care if I'm late for a class, but if we don't get there soon, we might miss the ways to act so whatever beast he has down there won't attack us..."

The American only laughed, moving to her side as they hurried down to the first class he had on his schedule, Care of Magical Creatures.

* * *

Hagrid's hut turned out to be just that, a hut. It sat on the very edge of the enormous forest that flanked the Hogwarts' grounds, and only a short distance from where Duo himself had arrived.

In fact, it was such a short distance that the Gundam pilot wondered why he hadn't seen the freakin' thing. He must've been right on top of it...

There were quite a few other students already gathered there, though it was obvious a few had yet to arrive. Duo recognized most of his fellow Slytherin year-mates, if not necessarily by name, and a few of the Gryffindors. Hermione Granger and her friends were near the front of the crowd, chatting with the massive, bear-like man he'd first met, if informally, in the stables.

Pansy peeled off to join her friends as soon as they came in sight, and the braided American was left standing there, looking around, without a single clue as to what he was supposed to be doing. Then a shout saved him.

"Oi, Duo!" Ron called out, red hair flaming in the morning sunlight. "Come on, mate, get over here!"

Duo grinned, feeling a rush of relief run through him. Damn, but he was just starting to remember why he hated enrolling in a new school without any of the other pilots there. He always felt like something of a fifth wheel.

"Hey," he chirped, stopping next to the little group, and Hermione and Harry both nodded to him. "Thanks, man. Just because it happens all the time doesn't mean I like not knowin' what to do." He glanced up at the supposed half-giant beside them, and blinked. For just a moment, so brief a time as to make him wonder whether he'd imagined it, the man had been overlain by the same, ethereal projection as the dog in his quarters.

That wasn't really all that surprising, though. Either he was insane, in which case seeing other hallucinations was obviously just a continuity of that insanity, or the people he was seeing really were their shades, at some point. What surprised him was the person.

"Howie?!" he muttered under his breath, staring up at the bear-like professor.

* * *

Harry frowned as the new student muttered something unintelligible as he stared at Hagrid in what could only be shock. He'd been hoping the American wasn't as bigoted as the other Slytherins...

"Oh, right!" Hermione suddenly said brightly. "Where are my manners? Hagrid, this is that exchange student, Duo Maxwell. Duo, this is Rubeus Hagrid."

Hagrid smiled, his dark eyes friendly, and held out his hand. "Nice ter meet yeh. Call me 'agrid, though," he rumbled.

Duo abruptly grinned, reaching and shaking the proffered hand. "Sure, Hagrid. It's nice to formaly meet ya, since we didn't exactly get a chance ta talk before."

Harry blinked as the half-giant chuckled. Maybe he didn't have to worry about the guy after all. "You've met?" he asked curiously.

"When I first got here," Duo replied. "Kind of a brief meeting, though." For a moment he studied Hagrid again, and the Boy-Who-Lived thought he saw something odd in the Slytherin's face. But then it was gone again, and Ron was asking the former wizard something that had obviously been on his mind for a while.

"Um, Hagrid? What are we studying today?" he asked, looking around. "I don't see any pens or anything."

Hagrid shook his shaggy head. "We're goin' in ter the Forest today. Yeh should enjoy this," he said to Duo. "We'll be meetin' one o' the wild cousins o' those fellas you liked so much in our stables."

"Really? You mean I'll actually get to learn something about them?" The fact that the braided teen was so excited over something that Hagrid dreamed up was _really_ disturbing to most of the students. 

"Thas righ', you liked 'em so much I jus' had ta bring 'em inter the class."

By now every one of the students was glaring at the braided boy. After all, whatever horrendously dangerous creature their professor came up with for class this time was all his fault.

The American didn't seem too perturbed by the various and sundry glares, though. And no wonder, Harry thought, remembering how the boy'd been completely unfazed by Snape's lethal glowering the night before. He sincerely doubted that anyone who could stand up to that monster would be bothered by the pathetic offerings of his peers.

In fact, Duo looked about ready to hug the half-giant. "Really?" He beamed when Hagrid nodded. "That's great! Thanks!"

Hagrid smiled back at him, obviously thrilled to have a student as enthusiastic about his "cute little beasties" as himself.

"Um, Hagrid?" Harry broke in, not really willing to just stand by and watch his newest sort-of friend be trampled by incensed students. "Shouldn't we be starting class right about now? I think everyone's here."

Blaise came running up, panting a bit as he waved his arms. "I'm here... Got stuck in my dorm." A glare towards Duo at this point before he took another deep breath. "I'm here, what's the crazy thing we're studying now?"

Hagrid blinked and then broke into a wide smile. "Righ then, now that w're all here, we'll be gettin' into the forest. This way. Stay on the path and there won't be nothin to worry 'bout.."

Hermione shook her head on a sigh. "Yeah, he always says that. Nothing to worry about..."

Duo blinked at her. "This really is a fun class, ain't it?"

* * *

They'd been walking through the Forbidden Forest for about five minutes when Hagrid brought the class to a stop just inside a wide clearing. Ron heard Malfoy make a low sound, and glanced over to see the rather pale blonde standing very close to Goyle. As he watched, bewildered, the hulking Slytherin put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder.

"This is Buckbeak's clearing," Harry murmured beside him, following the direction of the redhead's gaze, and Ron nodded in understanding as he felt a wide grin break out across his face.

"Buckbeak?" Duo asked curiously, while at the same time almost absentmindedly reaching out and grabbing Zabini's arm, since the teenager had been trying to sneak away from the little posse of Gryffindors.

Harry's lips twitched, and there was a gleam in his eye. "Buckbeak is a hippogriff we met in class in our third year. Malfoy made the mistake of insulting him-"

" _Never_ insult a hippogriff to its face," Hermione interrupted. "They're _very_ proud creatures."

The Boy-Who-Lived nodded. "Right. So, when Malfoy insulted him, Buckbeak took a rather large chunk out of his arm."

Zabini grimaced. "That thing was a menace." Then he looked over at the blonde, and a tiny flash of amusement crossed his features. "Can't say the daft idiot didn't deserve it, though, ignoring the teacher's warnings like that," he added.

For a moment Duo studied the decidedly sinister grins on the face of the two boys, and the amused irritation on that of the third. "I take it you don't like Malfoy, then?"

"How could you tell?" Harry asked sarcastically. "He's a stuck-up, slimy little prick." He glanced at the American. "Why, do you?"

Duo turned and stared thoughtfully at the fair Slytherin. After a minute or so he shrugged. "He's an annoying bastard, that's for sure," he admitted. "But truthfully?" He shrugged again. "I think with a little bit of elbow grease and a sharp mechanic, he might still be salvageable."

Ron seemed rather in shock, and even Blaise looked disbelieving. Of course, then the redhead had to have the unknown word identified. "What's a mechanic?"

"Someone who fixes machines. Not that the kid is a machine, but he could use someone to fix him." The American was then distracted from his explanation as he spotted the animals being led into the clearing. "There they are."

Of course, many of the students were very confused when Harry actually followed the longhaired boy over to Hagrid, as most of them didn't see a damn thing.

"Aw, who's a cute horsie," Duo cooed, reaching out and scratching its skeletal nose as the Gryffindor watched with wide eyes.

"Er, Duo? Should you really be petting that thing?" he asked, eyeing it nervously.

"Nah, she's 'armless. 'Less you're a rabbit or a deer, o' course," Hagrid boomed enthusiastically.

"So they eat meat, then?" Harry took a step further away from the thestral at the American's question. He did not want to lose a limb to those clawed feet.

"Yep! Right good hunters they are, too!"

"What are good hunters?" Ron finally burst out with, frustrated by the seemingly meaningless conversation between Hagrid and the two students. " _What_ the bloody blazes are you talking about?!"

"The horses, duh." Duo rolled his eyes and gave the redhead and amused smile before resuming his effort to pet the beasts in front of him, finally managing to get close enough that one let itself be petted, drawing forth a genuine smile. 

Harry gave the American a look before turning his attention to his friend. "Not that he said it nicely, but yeah, the horses."

"Duo, ya kinda fergot wha' I tol' ya when I met you didn' you? You kin only see em if you've seen somebody die." Hagrid shook his head. "But I have a charm so the rest o' yer's can see 'em."

The rest of the class still looked a bit doubtful, and only Harry, Hermione, and Blaise seemed to have caught on to the fact that Duo could already see the 'horses'. The two Gryffindors shared a troubled glance, knowing that they'd be discussing this later in the safety of their dorms, while Blaise frowned at his newest friend.

He decided then and there that he really needed to have a long talk with Duo.

And as for the American himself... well, he was too busy having fun petting the thestral to consider just what might have been inadvertently revealed about his past.


	10. Chapter 9

It wasn't until after class that the few who'd made nice with Duo had a chance to question him about his life. Or rather, before they managed to pry him away from the ethereal horses he'd been crooning to for the entire class, even going so far as telling Hagrid he'd come back to see them later. 

Harry reached the braided teen first. "Hey, Duo? Why do you like those thestrals so much?"

Sending a sideways glance from cobalt eyes, the American quirked his lips. "When I came here, those horses were the first living things that I saw."

The Gryffindor frowned, genuinely perplexed by that statement. "Why would that be important? I mean, you've seen lots of other stuff here by now, haven't you?"

Duo looked away, back towards the Forbidden Forest. "I suppose... but that's really only part of it." His lips quirked self-deprecatingly. "I guess it's because they're a... connection, kinda."

"Connection?" Ron asked, shooting a confused look towards Hermione, who shook her head, not knowing what the boy meant either.

"Yeah." The teenager stared off into the distance, eyes sad. "You can only see them after you've seen someone die. They're almost like Death. So they're a connection to all the people I've cared about who've died."

Hermione caught her breath in her throat. "Who? Who have you lost?" she asked, pitying the poor boy already and ready to offer her sympathy and a shoulder to cry on.

Duo looked back at her, and all four of the students were stunned by the emptiness in his eyes. "Everyone," he said quietly, then turned and walked away.

There was silence among them, three Gryffindors and one Slytherin temporarily united in shock and dismay, for a long time after the young American had vanished from sight beyond the doors of Hogwarts.

By the time they recovered, the American was already well out of sight.

* * *

Duo tossed himself on the bunk that was his, almost landing on Sirius, who'd been asleep, curled into the covers. He was quickly awake when he heard that the boy was talking, sounding very depressed. 

"You know, I can't believe I said that! I mean. Sure, just because I can see death's horses and all... It's what being Shinigami is all about." He rolled over, burrowing his face into the animagus' side. "I mean, I didn't need to tell them that everyone I loved had died, did I?"

Sirius stiffened, shocked. What...? _Everyone_?! Eyes wide with horror, he twisted so he could see the teenager's face.

Duo's eyes were shut tightly closed, and his jaw was clenched; Sirius easily recognized the signs of someone who was doing their paramount best not to cry. Whining, he gently touched his nose to the boy's cheek.

Startled, the American opened dark, teary eyes at the cool touch. He stared at the animagus for a long time, then with a sudden, violent shudder, pulled the dog into a desperate hug. "Why do they always leave, Zechs?" he asked softly after a long minute. "Why can't they ever stay with me? Is... is it me? Is it something I did? First Solo, then Father Maxwell, and Sister Helen... I thought Heero was going to stay, I really did, I thought he could survive anything, even _me_... But then he got sick..."

Sirius wished he could comfort the boy properly, but he couldn't reveal himself to the youth. Maybe eventually, but not yet. It was no wonder he'd cracked... He whined softly instead, nosing at the boy.

"You aren't going to up and die too are ya boy? You were dead where I came from you know... I don't think we ever even formally met, but hey. If I can be the reason so many people died already... People I loved so much... I shouldn't have come here, what if more people just die? It would all by my fault!" He bit his lip, shaking his head a little as he closed his eyes, forcibly holding back the tears.

The animagus gently took the teenager's hand in his mouth, biting down just hard enough to remind him that he was in fact alive and well. Once he was sure he had Duo's attention, he let the hand drop, and growled.

For a moment the young wizard didn't seem to understand, but then his eyes widened, and a tremulous smile made it onto his face. "You... you're not going to leave me?" he asked tentatively.

Sirius shook his head firmly, his ears back. He leaned over and licked Duo's face, and the boy actually laughed. A quiet, not truly _happy_ laugh, yes, but... a start. The animagus would have to be content with that.

Silence descended over the room after that. Duo lay on his bed, curled around his dog. Then, finally, the silence was broken.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come here..." the boy murmured quietly into Sirius' ear. "Even... even if my curse doesn't follow me, I'm still messin' with Death. Maybe I wasn't supposed to follow Heero... It just ain't natural, y'know? Messin' with Death, or with time..." The animagus perked up an ear, puzzled, as Duo shook his head and sighed. "Maybe I should've burned that time-travel spell when I found it..."

When the boy tapered off, Sirius nipped at the back of his hand, giving him a curious stare. He wanted to know just where this kid was coming from. Even if he really wasn't from another time, he clearly must think he was.

"Curious huh? My guess is I'm about three hundred years in the past. I was supposed to come to somewhere when my soul y'know, didn't have a body or anything, so I decided to do it. I was supposed to come to like, my other half, y'know, love of my life and all that? I think I messed it up using my Athame instead of a wand... I mean, I can see you, but I haven't seen him yet..."

Sirius blinked, filing that 'him' away for further thought. And what the hell did the kid mean when he said he could 'see' him? He wasn't seeing through the animagus transformation, could he?

After a moment he shook his head. Nah, that couldn't be it. Duo insisted on calling him "Zechs", but he'd never once referred to him as anything but a dog. An unusual dog, for sure, but still just a dog.

As Duo lapsed into silence once again, staring up at the ceiling of his bed, the animagus rested his head on the boy's stomach. James had always told him his (in Sirius' opinion) healthy sense of curiosity would get him in trouble some day. Sirius knew he was probably right, but still, he couldn't help wanting to figure out the puzzle that was this kid...

* * *

It was a few hours until Duo was roused out of bed by his stomach, and he realized it was getting dark out. "Oh crap! I missed lunch! Sorry pup, I didn't mean to not feed you! And I have my first potions lesson tonight too..."

Sirius had had plenty of time to decide one thing, without a doubt. The kid wasn't leaving the room without him anymore. He managed to snag the sleeve of his robe in his teeth before he could be locked in again.

Duo glanced down at his newest accessory, surprised. "Huh? You want to come with me, boy?"

Sirius let go of his sleeve and nodded as firmly as he could. The American frowned thoughtfully. "Well..."

The animagus whined as pitifully as he could, gazing up at the boy with his biggest puppy eyes. Duo stood strong at first, but gradually his frown melted, and he finally sighed. "All right. But you have to promise me you won't leave my sight," he said, fixing the wizard at his feet with an uncompromising stare. "You're still healing, and just because I put the fear of God into those brats if I catch them trying anything again, but that doesn't mean they won't have a go at you if I won't see it."

Immediately Sirius started nodding, leaning against the American's side to show his agreement. "Okay, okay. We're going. I bet you're hungry? And I promise that I won't let the teachers make off with you either. Who knows what they'd think if they got a hold on you?" 

Shaking his head, the young wizard in training headed down to the great hall, completely ignoring the silence that followed in his wake as he walked past his fellow Slytherins in their common room with his fingers curled into the black fur of the large beast at his side.

It was a relatively quick stroll to the Great Hall, now that Duo knew how to get there on his own. They reached the enormous doors in but minutes. The American pushed open one of the doors, and froze.

Where the hell was he going to sit?

He'd genuinely enjoyed eating at the Gryffindor table last night, and he really wanted to talk to those twins again... but after what had happened earlier after class, he found himself cringing at the thought of facing them so soon. Decision made, the braided teenager made his way over to the Slytherin table.

Already seated, Blaise silently made room for him, and Duo sat down at his side as Sirius crawled underneath the table. The food was already there, so he grabbed his plate and started to fill it.

"I'm sorry," the brunette finally said quietly, staring down at his plate. "We shouldn't have asked you that."

Duo smiled sadly. "It wasn't your fault," he replied, just as softly. "You weren't even the one asking."

"I was about to," Blaise admitted, poking at his steak with his fork. "Granger beat me to it."

The American considered that for a moment, then reached over and grabbed Blaise's wrist. "Didn't anyone ever tell ya not to play with your food?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

The other Slytherin smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah, my mom says that. Thanks." He was about to return to eating when he noticed the dog under the table. "Why'd you bring what's his name?"

"Zechs? He wouldn't let me leave without him." He reached down, offering the dog some things from the table. 

The three Gryffindors he'd sought to avoid were heading over to the Slytherin table in the meantime, having seen him enter the hall from across the room.

"C'mon," Harry said, standing and grabbing Ron's arm. The redhead yelped as his best friend pulled him up out of the seat. 

"Harry? What are you doing?" Hermione asked, staring at him.

"Duo's here, we've got to go apologize to him," the wizard answered, and instantly Ron stopped struggling and craned his neck to look for the braided boy.

"Hey, he's right! He's over there, right next to Zabini!" the fifth-year exclaimed, surprised. He'd half-expected the American boy not to show up, after they'd managed to shove their collective feet so far in their mouths that they'd nearly swallowed their shoes.

Hermione stood as well. "Well, then, we'd better go apologize before we make it any worse by waiting," she said firmly, and determinedly began the march into enemy territory.

Duo only lifted his head when most of the Slytherin table fell quiet, and he blinked, leaning his head back as he realized that the people who'd caused the ripple of silence were right behind him. "Uh... hi."

Harry scuffled his shoes a little and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. We didn't have any right to pry earlier. I..." He sighed, glancing down at his feet, only to see a black dog peering up from near the American's feet. "Snuffles?"


	11. Chapter 10

Something made Severus glance up from his meal, just as his House's table went deadly quiet. He was stunned to see _Potter_ , of all people, standing there with his sidekicks just behind him.

The Gryffindor seemed to be speaking to the irritating, time-traveling, Mr. Maxwell, when abruptly he stopped, and looked at something under the table. Potter's mouthed dropped open, and he said something that surprised both his friends and the Slytherins.

Curious, the potions master craned his head, trying to see just what they were looking at. Potter knelt and beckoned to whatever was under there, and Severus cursed as a large, shaggy black dog poked its head out from beneath the bench.

Damn it, what the _hell_ was Black doing here?

And why the hell was he with _Maxwell_?!

* * *

Duo blinked a few times and dropped his gaze to the dog near his feet. "You know Zechs? Maybe that's why he was wandering around the castle." He dropped his hand, scratching just behind an ear, causing the animagus to lean against his legs. "He was in really bad shape when I found him." A pause. "Oh, and no need to apologize, really."

Harry smiled gratefully at him, as Hermione joined him on the floor to pet Snuffles. "In bad shape?" he asked after a moment.

The American nodded. "Yeah. Apparently," he scowled, "some of the younger Slytherins like torturing puppies." Duo smirked evilly, casting a smug gaze down the table towards the end where the younger years usually sat. "Don't think they'll be trying that again..."

"What did you do to them?" Blaise inquired with a rather morbid curiosity.

Duo shrugged, eyes wide and innocent. "Oh, just scared the living shit out of 'em."

His Slytherin friend eyed him for a long moment. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, it's not like any of them needed to go see the Pomfrey lady. Though... Yeah, just scared em a little. Then I patched Zechs here up. And apparently you guys know him?" He directed this at the Gryffindors kneeling on the floor off to his side as he twisted a little, being careful not to jar his dog since he was leaning on him. "He wouldn't let me leave him in my room anymore."

"Yeah. He... hangs out with us sometimes. Doesn't really belong to anyone but himself, though," Harry replied cautiously, not knowing whether or not Duo knew just who the dog _was_. The braided boy hadn't made any references to the fact that Snuffles was really a wizard yet, but he also wasn't treating him like an ordinary dog, either.

"You know the mutt then, Potter?" Malfoy interrupted suddenly, sneering at his rival. "Good. You can take him, then, and good riddance."

Blaise snickered, for no readily apparent reason. "What's the matter, Captain?" he asked ingenuously. "Don't want to spend another night with a Grim sleeping in the same room?"

"I just don't want to worry about fleas in the dorm." The blond shot back the comment quickly.

The American gave the blond bully a look. "Malfoy, I thought we'd talked about this already. He isn't going anywhere." He curled his fingers in the fur on the scruff of the animagus' neck a little possessively. Yes, he'd already gotten rather attached. "Besides, he doesn't have fleas."

Harry didn't know what to make of the American's actions, eyeing the way he acted. He was even more confused that his godfather seemed to agree with the boy's opinion, just letting him do it. 

Sirius wished he could tell his godson why, but he couldn't. Sorry Harry, but he needs me more right now... He needs someone to take care of him, and it looks like I'm it.

* * *

The Gryffindors had quickly headed back to their own table after that, chased away by the increasingly hostile stares of the Slytherins. Zechs crawled back underneath the table, and for the rest of the supper Duo handfed him scraps of roast beef and a couple pieces of bread. Blaise even joined in with a couple tidbits of his own, though if the big dog moved too fast to take them the quiet boy had a tendency to flinch away as though he expected his fingers to go down the beast's gullet instead.

Finally Duo had had enough, and he rose from the table. "Hey, B? Where's Sevvie-bear's classroom? I'm supposed to go get tutored."

By this time Blaise was well used to his friend's propensity to choose suicidally inappropriate nicknames for their Head of House, but that one still made him wince. "Er... it's right across from his private rooms, actually."

Duo blinked. "That close?" The other boy nodded, and he grinned. "Great! I won't be late after all! I still need to go get my books out of our room."

Blaise nodded and glanced towards the head table. "You might want to hurry. He looks like he's almost finished, and he'll be expecting you down there before he is."

"Yeah? Sounds like something he'd expect." Duo shook his head, then got to his feet, waiting for Zechs to crawl out from under the table before curling his fingers back into his scruff. "See you later firebug." With a wave of his free hand, he went down to the dungeons. 

Blaise frowned a little. "Firebug?"

  


He'd tried, while he dug up his books and supplies, to get Zechs to stay. It clearly hadn't worked as he was currently putting everything down in the classroom he was to meet his Professor in, the black beast at his side. "You better not get in the way."

Zechs looked innocently at him, and went to sit over by the side of the classroom. Duo watched him suspiciously for a minute, then went back to unpacking.

First to come out was the slightly crumpled sheet of parchment that held the list of ingredients he'd finally managed to find all of. Then came some spare sheets... oh, what he wouldn't give for some decent lined paper... and one of the two ball-point pens he thanked Shinigami every day for that he'd thought to put them in his knapsack before casting that damn spell.

He cut off his inner growling when he heard the light steps of someone doubtlessly trying to sneak up on him. He'd get to go shopping soon anyway. But the person sneaking up on him... That had to be Severus. He sat up and looked at him when he got to be a foot away in his looming. "Hiya teach! So what're we doin?"

There was a pause, as the older man's eye twitched, before he circled around the boy, only then spotting the animagus. "What is that doing here?"

Duo shrugged cheerfully. "The pup? He wouldn't let me leave the dorm without him, actually... I think he's decided he's my guard dog."

Severus glanced at the mutt, who proceeded to nod. "He's trying to keep you out of trouble, then?" The American nodded as well, and the Slytherin winced imperceptibly. For the first time in his life he actually _pitied_ Black. "I wish you luck, then," he said seriously. "You're going to need it. I am beginning to believe that he may be worse than Potter."

Black blinked at him for a moment, surprised, and then started to look worried. Severus smirked thinly, his mission to disturb Black accomplished, and turned back to his young student. "You have your assignment?" he asked abruptly.

"Yeah." Duo reached into a pocket in his robes and pulled out a rolled sheet of parchment. "Any chance I could get some _real_ paper whenever someone takes me shopping? This sheepskin stuff _sucks_. Whenever you try to write on it the ink just sort of... smears. Whichever one of you people decided to use it for everything was an _idiot_."

The potions master frowned at the boy's complete lack of tact. "Mr. Maxwell, do they no longer teach manners in whatever time you come from?"

By the side of the room, Sirius nearly fell over. Snape thought Duo'd time-traveled, too... Shit, the kid really must've been telling the truth.

The kid in question shrugged, plopping down on top of a desk. "Actually, Q was the diplomat... I usually just blew people up when I didn't like 'em," he said, smirking.

"There isn't any need for those sorts of jokes. A simple no would have done quite nicely." Shaking his head, he reached over to take the parchment and unrolled it, eyeing the teen he'd assigned it to. "You're sure you found all the ingredients?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure. The more poisonous bits were really hard to find, they weren't in the first book you gave me so I had to use another one, but it's all there." Duo waved a bit and grinned widely at the black haired man.

Put on guard, he unfurled the parchment and scanned the ingredients. "You make this, and you haven't managed to poison yourself yet?" 

Duo scowled. " _Why_ do you keep implying I'm gonna poison myself?"

The Head of Slytherin snorted. "Because I simply can't imagine you _not_ , you foolish boy. From what I know of you, you're reckless and have no regard for authority. Those are _not_ advantages when dealing with something so delicate as potions!"

The boy glared at him for a second, then smirked. "Fine. I'll make it while you watch. Maybe _then_ you'll get your head far enough out of your ass to admit I might be able to take care of myself."

Dark eyes flashing a little, Severus turned and pulled up a chair. "Fine, do you have what you require for this concoction?" 

Duo smirked faintly and started going through his bag. "Course Sev. Always have what you need on you, because you never know when you'll run out of something important. Emergencies and all that." 

While the two started on a potion that Severus clearly thought was poisonous, Sirius could only sit back and watch. He never thought that he'd see the day when someone could manage his childhood nemesis so easily.

* * *

By the time the salve was finished, Severus was looking a great deal less smug. "What did you say you called this again?" he asked, rubbing some of the cream between his thumb and forefinger.

"Mordaine," Duo replied, scraping the last bits of it out of the cauldron (really, a simple pot worked so much better...) and into one of several jars. "It heals minor-to-moderate burns within forty-eight hours, and I figure if you've got _serious_ burns, you should be in the hospital anyway, not smearing a homemade remedy on 'em."

The potions master frowned as he suddenly felt his fingertips go slightly numb. "Does it have any other properties?" he asked warily.

The American blinked up at him. "Um, yeah. Soothes and cools pretty much right on contact."

"Is it supposed to make the skin go numb?" He frowned, wiping off his fingers. 

"Yeah, that's really useful when you have bruises and need to run. That's what it was for originally really. The burn thing came later." Duo twisted the cap tightly onto his mixture and tucked it into his bag. He left one container for Severus. "I have a few other salves and stuff, but not with me."

Severus looked strangely at the boy. One of these days, he was _really_ going to have to drag him up to Albus' office and pour some Veritaserum into him. Just to straighten out all the little mysteries that seemed to crop up around him like daisies...

Sirius sighed from the corner of the room where he'd been lying and trying to entertain himself by having a staring contest with a few of the various preserved jar contents. Damn it, but watching someone make potions was _really_ boring... Finally having had enough of silence and mumbling over that damn cauldron, he stood, stretched, and strolled over to the two wizards.

Duo immediately glanced down and grinned, seeing the pathetic look in the brown eyes. "I didn't say it'd be fun to follow me in here pup. C'mere, I'm not working with nothin serious anymore." 

Pleased that the two were apparently done, and ignoring the glare being directed his way from Severus, the transformed mage came to rest his head on the American boy's leg so he could be petted.

"So, you two know each other?" Duo asked as he scratched, remembering how the professor had addressed the dog earlier.

"...Yes," Severus admitted reluctantly. "We've never been... fond of each other, though."

Sirius snorted at _that_ blatant understatement. The Slytherin sneered at him and continued. "In fact, I believe this is the longest we've ever spent in one room together without attacking each other."

The teenager blinked at him, horrified. "You'd attack a _dog_?! I thought you were better than that!"

The 'dog' chuffed in amusement at the suddenly flabbergasted expression on the professor's face. " _Dog_? But that mutt's not a _dog_..."

"He's not?" Duo turned to eye Zechs. "You're not? Well, then what are you? I know you aren't one of them Grims."

Sirius hesitated, seeming to be caught in a state between wanting the kid to know, and being completely and utterly terrified he'd get attacked if he showed him.

Severus couldn't help but smirk. "Go on Black, show him what you are. Don't tell me that boldness of yours has finally disappeared, has it?"

The animagus glared at him, then concentrated. Duo's jaw dropped as he heard a 'pop!' and the dog he'd come to almost love disappeared, and in his place was a man.

A rather skinny man, to tell the truth, and one who looked like he'd been in a fight. The Gundam pilot somehow knew, even without looking, that they would match exactly the wounds he'd been treating for days. The man had thick, healthy-looking black hair that reached his shoulders, but that was really the only thing about him that didn't scream neglect. His wizards' robes were tattered, and his shoulders were thin and bony beneath them, even after two days of regular meals.

Sirius stared at Duo with worried blue eyes, wondering what was going on under the boy's shocked, but otherwise utterly blank face. Damn Snape for forcing this! He'd been planning on breaking it gently! What if Duo hated him now for lying to him?

The silence and staring went on for a few more moments, before Duo abruptly grinned. " _Cool_! Could you teach me to do that?! I'd owe you forever and ever and ever..."

The animagus gaped. "You... you're not mad?"

The boy shrugged. "Well, maybe a little... we _will_ be having a little talk later on about you keeping secrets while I'm spilling _my_ guts... But other than that? Not really." After all... if nothing else, it eased his mind over the possibility of Heero being a _horse_... A cool horse, but _still_...

Sirius nodded a little in understanding and shuffled is feet. "I had to be sure it was safe to tell you..."

Severus looked a little put out that Duo hadn't reacted in a more extreme fashion and let it go. He couldn't have everything he wanted after all. "Maxwell, take your mutt and get out of my office, I'll see you again in two days."

Duo rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Yeah, sure. Great. See ya then, grumpy-guts."

Sirius was hard put to stifle his snickers as they made their escape out the door while the Slytherin was still in shock.

* * *

Duo wanted to ask Zechs a question once they were outside Severus' classroom, but the man changed back to his dog form the instant they stepped outside the door. So instead, he held on to it until they were back inside the thankfully empty dorm.

"Zechs?" he asked curiously, dropping down onto his bed as the dog again became the man. "When those kids were picking on you, why didn't you just change back?"

The wizard studied him for a moment. "Sirius."

The teenager blinked. "Huh?"

"My name. It's Sirius. Sirius Black." He winced and waited, as though expecting Duo to recognize it.

"Oh... Nice ta meet you, I guess..." Duo narrowed his cobalt eyes. "That doesn't answer my question, though," he stated. "Why didn't you change back?"

Sirius sighed and stared at the floor. "Because I'm an escaped convict," he finally replied resignedly, his thin shoulders sagging.

And now was when Duo called the Aurors, Sirius thought bitterly as the silence stretched on. Damn it, damn it, _damn it_! _Why_ couldn't he ever take things slowly?!

The he was surprised to hear Duo's bed creak suddenly, and he looked up to see the boy walking over to him. "So, what'd you do?" he asked, staring up at him with wide, curious eyes.

Sirius' own eyes widened. "I was convicted of killing thirteen people," he admitted quietly.

Duo stared at him for a minute longer, studying the animagus carefully. At last he snorted. "Nah. You've never killed anybody," he said, grimacing and walking back to his bed.

The older wizard simply stood there, shocked for the... Damn, but he'd lost count of how many times the American had managed to shock him that day alone... "How... how did you know I was innocent?" he finally managed to ask.

Duo frowned as he lay back, his hands beneath his head. "Aside from the fact ya haven't tried to kill me yet..." He shrugged. "One thing is the words you used. You said you were 'convicted of', not that you _killed_ thirteen people." Sirius nodded, acknowledging the logic in that, and Duo continued. "Plus, there's a certain... mark, I s'pose ya could call it, that only someone who's killed has. Changes their stance, reactions... little things like that. An' you don't have that mark."

Sirius was about to ask just how the hell Duo knew how to recognize that 'mark' when he heard a step outside the door, and he changed back into Padfoot just as Blaise Zabini stepped through the door.

As the two teenagers quickly fell into another conversation, he curled up on a rug to think. Earlier, he would have said many things about Duo Maxwell didn't add up, but now... the pieces were starting to add up.

And he was _not_ liking the picture they were forming.


	12. Chapter 11

The next morning was the one that Duo had a note that he needed to be up early for. He needed to go get the more personalized supplies, like clothes and a wand. "Shopping." He looked around, realizing he'd woken up before the other students... and that it was still dark out.

"'Kay... so maybe I'm a _teensy_ little bit eager to get out of wearing the same clothes over and over..." And this comment, of course, woke up the sleeping dog beside him, who had apparently jumped up at some point during the night.

Peeling an eye open, Sirius whined questioningly, and Duo grinned. "Someone's supposed to take me somewhere to get clothes and stuff. Don't get me wrong, this is my favorite outfit, but it'd be _really_ nice have something else to wear..."

Waking up a little more at the news that the teenager would be leaving the castle, Sirius fixed him with a stern stare. "So, ah... I take it you want to go with me?" the American asked carefully.

Glancing around, the older wizard took in the hour, and the lack of people awake, and drew the curtain shut so he could actually talk, if in a whisper. "Of course I'm going with you!"

Blinking a few times at the man now sitting in front of him, he had to grin. "You got blue eyes."

Confused over the topic change, he nodded cautiously. "Yeah..."

"I'm going to still call you Zechs." Ruffling the man's hair, he then considered just what he'd need to get and crawled out to get something to write a list. This was going to be great.

* * *

When Severus stepped into the Slytherin common room at a slightly more civilized hour later that morning, he found the student he was searching for curled up in one of the more comfortable wing backed chairs in front of the fire. A book was in his hands; the fifth-year course book on potions, the professor in him was pleased to note. Black was sitting rather blearily beside him, and looked up at his entrance with barely-concealed relief.

The wizard grimaced. Apparently the mutt appreciated mornings about as much as he himself did.

"Hey, Sev!" Duo chirped brightly, seeing him lurking there in the doorway. "You the one taking me to this alley place?"

"No," Severus replied shortly, having pretty much given up on getting the boy to ever refer to him properly. "You're to meet Hagrid in front of the Great Hall in twenty minutes."

There was a pause, then the American visibly perked up, getting to his feet as he closed the book with a snap. "Great! It'll be fun to get a chance to talk to the big guy for real. Oi, Zechsy, c'mon, time to go." He paused, looking back to the black haired wizard who was already standing. "Oh... Is he going to feed me or am I needing to eat before I go?"

The potion's master stared at the very alert teen for a few beats before venturing to answer. He'd never understood morning people. "He'll be getting you some food in Diagon Alley, yes." He shook his head a little as the boy hurried to put the book back in his dorm, only to see the animagus getting to his feet with a huff. "Oh, so you're planning on accompanying the hellion, are you Black?"

The dog shook himself, working the kinks out, and nodded. He sent the professor a look that clearly stated he wasn't planning on letting the kid out of his sight... even if it meant he had to actually _get up_ in the morning.

"Well?" Duo said impatiently, hoisting his knapsack over one shoulder. "We going to get moving, or what?"

Black rolled his eyes at the teenager's totally inappropriate (in his opinion) enthusiasm. Sighing, he walked over to the doorway and past Severus, who twisted to follow his passage down the dungeon corridor. Actually _whistling_ , the young American took off after him, quickly catching up, and the Head of Slytherin shook his head bemusedly.

No, indeed not, he thought as he closed the entrance to the dorms. He would _never_ understand the mystery behind the disgustingly good cheer of morning people.

Especially that of the one named Duo Maxwell.

* * *

Hagrid, who'd been up about as long as Duo, was far more understanding about his morning enthusiasm. "'Ello! Yer ready ta head to go doin the shoppin' then?" He paused, glancing to the big dog who wandered in behind the boy. "Why who's this fine fella?"

The American boy turned, digging his fingers into the fur where he'd found wouldn't bother the animagus. "This is Zechs. He doesn't have a collar or nothin yet, but he could probably use one, just so nobody gets the bright idea of making off with him, y'know?"

"He came with yer then? Well, he is a big fella, usually they dun let the students have nothin so big." He was studying the dog closely, a grin spreading across his face. "A fine one though, even if he's all trussed up." 

"Yeah." Duo ran his fingers over one of the bandages. "Some brats were bugging him, and I chased 'em off." He considered the dog critically for a moment. "I _think_ I should be able to take the bandages off tomorrow. Air'll help the cuts heal up the rest of the way."

Hagrid practically beamed. It was good to see someone from the serpent house willing to help something in need. "Alrigh', then. Let's get goin'." He turned and lumbered- okay, so he was actually walking normally, but it was hard to imagine someone of his size _not_ lumbering as they walked- into the Great Hall, which at this time of the morning was completely and utterly empty.

He led Duo over to a rather large fireplace set into the wall, where despite the hour a fire was already crackling cheerfully. "This 'ere's Floo powder," he said, pulling a small jar from somewhere inside his voluminous robes and unscrewing it. "Now, what yeh 'ave teh do is take a pinch or so, then toss it on in." He demonstrated, with a pinch of the silvery powder that would have been a handful for anyone else.

Duo jumped as the flames suddenly turned a bright green. "An' now, all yeh have teh do is step righ' in, and say where yer goin'. We're headed teh the Leaky Cauldron." At the American's more than slightly disbelieving stare, Hagrid chuckled. "Don' worry 'bout it. One o' the safest ways teh travel. Just remember the keep yer elbows in tigh'."

Giving the half-giant a wary look, he stepped forward and finally did as asked tossing a puff into the fire. "Leaky Cauldron." He didn't seem very enthused, but flinchingly stepped into the fire. A second later he rolled out, coughing on the soot.

"'ere now, you all right, lad?" a kindly voice asked, and Duo felt a pair of hands wrap around his waist and pull him up.

Once he was no longer lying on the floor- and once he'd managed to get most of the soot out of his lungs- the Gundam pilot looked up into the face of his benefactor and only just held in a wince. Damn, now _there_ was an ugly guy... bald as sin, and a three-day-old _infant_ had more teeth...

Still, he seemed like a nice guy, and Duo gave him a tentative, grateful smile. "Thanks. I think I can truthfully say that will _never_ be my favorite way of getting' around..." he added, pushing himself to his feet.

"I wouldn't worry overmuch, it's not the way I like it any myself. You're not here by yourself are you?" The man moved back a little offering a hand up, which was taken with only a seconds hesitation.

There was another puff of soot, and Hagrid came in behind him. "He's bein' with me. Is yer alrigh' Duo?"

The teenager nodded, waving the fresh wave of soot-filled air away from his face with one hand. "Yeah. Just peachy, in fact. Do we really have to go back that way?" he asked plaintively, turning on what Quatre had always referred to as the Dreaded Puppy Eyes.

They seemed to be working, as the face of the enormous professor visibly melted, but then he shook his head. "Sorry, but there's no other way o' getting' teh Hogwarts. Not for us, anyway. Maybe next time we ken ask the 'eadmaster teh make us a Portkey."

"A what?" The American boy looked at him blankly for a moment.

The rather odd looking man nodded a little, heading back for the bar. "He's a new student then? He's rather mature for a first year."

"Hey..." The protest was cut off by a booming laugh from the groundskeeper.

"Duo isn't a firs' year. He's just new, so we' a wee bi' late gettin' 'im to Diagon Alley." He then started to steer the boy in the appropriate direction. "Thi' way."

Duo trailed off behind him, glancing back at the man and waving goodbye. The man nodded cheerfully, and the pilot's last sight of him was as he began wiping down tables.

They ended up outside the back of the bar- pub, he corrected himself; when in Rome... Anyway, it didn't really matter, since all they were doing at the moment was staring at an ordinary, if dingy brick wall. "Um, Hagrid? What are we doing?" he asked curiously, looking up at him.

Hagrid smiled, beetle-black eyes twinkling. "This, 'ere, is the entrance teh the Alley. Now, I'll let yeh in this first time, but once yeh get a wand o' yer own, yeh'll have to open it yerself." He waited until the teenager had nodded, then turned towards the wall. "Now, the combination's three up, an' two across," he said, lifting up his umbrella and tapping certain bricks around a depression in the wall.

Duo watched in amazement as the bricks trembled, then began to slide away. He leaned closer, following the blocks as they interwove, eventually vanishing totally into the walls of an until-then concealed doorway. He laughed brightly, and glanced up at Hagrid. "That is so _cool_!"

The professor chuckled, then gestured for the boy to turn around. Duo did, and then stared in amazement as he beheld Diagon Alley for the first time.

* * *

Once he'd gotten over his initial amazement, Duo had darted into the alley, eyes going everywhere in an evaluation only people from his lifestyle had about them, a grin on his face. Sirius had barely managed to catch up before the entrance to the Alley had closed. Their first stop, apparently, seemed to be a place called Ollivander's.

So _this_ was where he was going to get his wand... Duo couldn't help but scoff at the shop's sign as he followed Hagrid into the place. I mean, really, how could something have existed as a viable business since 382 B.C.?

The rather musty shop seemed empty at first glance, but the pilot in him for some reason couldn't trust appearances. Frowning, the teenager stepped further into the store. "Hello?" he called out, a hand unconsciously reaching for one of his knives.

His caution was born out when he heard the slightest of sounds off to the side, and he spun around to see a pale, stick-like man standing amongst some shelves. "Good evening," the stranger said in a breathy voice as thin as he was. "May I help you?"

There was a moment that Duo nearly tossed the blade at the man in startlement, but he quickly tucked it away, only Sirius seeing the defensive display before Hagrid started talking.

"The lad 'ere 'as come over from America an' he doesn' 'ave a proper wand. Yeh think we kin fix tha?" The question was followed with a smile.

The man smiled back at the half giant and turned to the long haired teen, studying him for a moment before summoning up his measuring tools. "My name is Ollivander, welcome to my shop."

Duo nodded warily. "Nice ta meet ya..." Hell, there was no reason not to be polite, just because the guy had come closer to actually surprising him than anyone had in _years_...

Ollivander smiled. "Well, let's get started, then." He walked over to a wooden counter and beckoned him over. "Now, which is your wand arm?"

At a nudge from Sirius' cold, wet nose, the Gundam pilot reluctantly joined him at the counter. "Wand arm? Um..." Damn. He could use both hands, but his left was his gun hand... "My right," he finally answered.

Just because they told him having a wand was a good thing didn't mean he wanted his gun hand busy with a freakin' piece of wood instead of a decent weapon.

Nodding a little, the old man set about measuring the boy, the instruments floating in the air around him. "I don't believe I know your name..."

The teen blinked, as did the two with him, who hadn't ever heard Ollivander admit to ignorance before. The man hadn't been warned about this boy though. "Oh, I'm Duo Maxwell."

"Very good! Well, Mr. Maxwell, I think I know just the thing..." He then went to get the first wand as he snapped, his tools ceasing.

Before Duo had time to even blink, a slender piece of wood was being shoved into his hands. "Here you are, young sir. Fourteen inches, maple, with the tail hair of a unicorn." The teenager stood there for a moment, confused, and Ollivander snorted impatiently. "Well? Are you going to give it a wave or not?"

Blushing, the pilot did as he was told and waved the wand through the air, feeling just a _little_ foolish as he did so. Immediately there was a sharp 'crack!', and a deep hole appeared in the wall.

"Wow..." Duo mumbled, staring wide-eyed. Then Ollivander had snatched the wand out of his hand.

" _Not_ that one, I think..." he said, casting a slightly disturbed glance at the wall. Never in all his years of making wands had _that_ particular reaction happened. Cracks in the window, broken pottery, yes, but...

Never a wand that automatically used the Reductor Curse when randomly waved.

Silently, he resolved to keep young Mister Maxwell away from anything pertaining to unicorns.

The next wand thrust in Duo's direction. "Ten-inch, holly with the heartstring of a ridgeback." This time Duo immediately flicked it, and all the glass in the room shattered. As soon as he was done ducking, Ollivander snatched it away as well. "Not that one either! You're going to be a challenge, aren't you?"

The teenager smirked. "I try."

Sirius snickered, ignoring the odd look he got from the half-giant next to him at the odd action. He had no doubts whatsoever that Snape, for one, would agree completely with that statement.

The wand maker's lips twitched. "Indeed..." He turned back to the shelves. "One last try with the standard cores, I think, but I rather doubt you'll settle for anything less than the extraordinary, Mr. Maxwell." As he spoke, he handed the American another wand, this one of a pale wood. "Birch, eleven inches, containing the feather of a rather young phoenix."

Duo waved the wand, cautiously this time, since he wasn't sure if he (or rather, Dumbledore) would have to pay for the damages. His caution wasn't very effective, however, as one of the discarded wands on the counters turned into a gun. The Gundam pilot leaned forward and picked it up, carefully keeping it pointed away from everyone. "Beretta, looks like the Cougar series. A little old-fashioned, but nice."

Both Hagrid and Sirius were staring at Duo with this shocked look on their faces, and when Duo saw the half giant's look, he set the gun down, offering the wand that had created it back to Ollivander, who seemed puzzled. "I'd have to say I don't think that this is the right one either."

Snapping out of his speculation, Ollivander turned to head for the back in search of a less common wand type, muttering to himself about extreme reactions.

The bearded teacher turned a little, eyeing Duo. "An just how did yer know wha tha' was?"

Duo blinked at them innocently, drawing on his long experience of avoiding the truth without actually lying to come up with an explanation. "What, you didn't know? Don't you wizards ever watch movies?"

Hagrid looked confused. "'Movies?'"

The teenager winced. "Guess not..." He glanced towards the back, where oddly enough Ollivander had not yet reappeared, and turned fully towards the professor. "A movie is kinda like... well, it's basically a book, but instead of words telling the story, it has moving pictures, like those paintings back at Hogwarts. An' a lot of movies are about action, and explosions, and lots and lots of guns..."

The enormous professor nodded knowingly, though he obviously didn't entirely understand, but Duo had to hold in a wince as the animagus at his side leveled an uncompromising stare at him. Okay, Sirius was clearly better at reading him than he'd thought...

Thankfully, at that point their little tête-à-tête was interrupted as the old wand maker finally emerged from the back of the shop with an armload of wands. "Here we are," he said cheerfully, dumping them on the countertop. "Here, ten inches, walnut, with an Abraxan feather."

Duo waved it, by now resigned to doing as much damage as he could, and was pleasantly surprised when instead of actually destroying something, it merely turned Ollivander's silver hair blue.

"Ah. Yes, well..." Ollivander reached out and took it from him. "Not that one either, but I _do_ think a feather of _something_..." He suddenly paused and peered closely at Duo.

No, not at him directly, the teenager quickly realized, but at his collar. "Perhaps..."

One small hand raised to the priest's collar he again wore, and sighed, watching the man run off in near excitement for the next wand. Apparently the man had something in mind. The next three wands weren't _quite_ as destructive, but they clearly weren't all that correct either.

With a huge mess scattered all over the floor, the older man finally stared into Duo's eyes, then, shaking his head slightly, went to get his last choice. He'd been so sure... The best reaction had been the Yew wood, and the only other one he had...

It was clearly the correct wand, as a warm breeze filtered through. "Very... Interesting."


	13. Chapter 12

Hagrid frowned, looking curiously at the wand maker. "Ain't that wha' yeh said 'bout 'arry's wand?"

The old man smiled mysteriously. "Indeed, yes... You see, that's the first time I've ever sold a wand with that particular core. Though, I do admit it fits..." he added, gazing contentedly at Duo.

"Really? What is it?" The American peered at his new wand inquisitively.

"Why, _that_ wand contains the pilot feather of a tengu," Ollivander answered proudly. "Quite a rascal, he was..."

Duo blinked. "A what?"

"A tengu!" Hagrid gushed, beaming. "They're from all the way over in Japan, they are! I've ne'er seen one, o' course, but I've read plenty 'bout them. Tricky little buggers, they are. Always foolin' the muggles by dressin' up as priests."

"Japan? Honto?" He couldn't resist, and the confused blinks that made him smirk. He waved a hand around and shook his head. "Betsu ni nanimo nai."

"Er, Duo? Whatcha' speakin' there?" Hagrid looked a bit amused, yet confused.

"Japanese, of course. It just seemed to suit the moment." He grinned, laughing quietly. "I know a few languages... It was something of a hobby for me."

Ollivander nodded his approval. "And quite a good one. I wish more young people these days would consider hobbies like that."

Duo grinned again. If they only knew about his 'hobbies'... Still, a compliment was a compliment, so he bowed. "Domo arigato gozaimashita, Ollivander-san."

The old man smiled. "Douitashimashite." As Duo blinked at him, surprised, the wand maker glanced again at his wand, and the smile was replaced with a frown. "Still, though, that is a _very_ unusual wand..." He glanced at Hagrid. "Really, Mr. Hagrid, you seem to be making a habit of bringing customers to my shop with connections to _Him_."

Hagrid paled slightly, and Sirius whined at his feet. "Wha'? _How_?" he asked, sending Duo a troubled glance.

Ollivander shook his head. "Nothing as strong as Mr. Potter's wand, fear not. The yew tree Mr. Maxwell's wand is made from is the very same tree that His came from. A rather weak connection, in fact, compared to that of brother cores..."

Duo looked between them, steadily growing more bewildered with each sentence. " _What_ are you people talking about?" he finally demanded, his voice raised a few decibels above normal.

"Well, your wand has wood from the same tree as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Ollivander nodded slightly, a mysterious look on his face.

"And that has to do with anything... how?" he asked, eyeing the other two. "What? Is that a bad thing or something?"

"You-Know-Who did great things... terrible things, but great," Ollivander stated, nodding again.

The teen blinked, then smiled a sad little smile and murmured something. Sirius, with his canine hearing, was the only one who caught the quiet words. "...sounds like us..."

"He was one of the most powerful wizards this world has ever seen," Ollivander continued. "Unfortunately, he allowed that power to corrupt him, and many people died before the chaos was ended."

Hagrid grunted. "An' now that 'e's back, it'll be startin' all over again..." he said grimly.

There was a bleak silence following his words, until Duo shook himself. "Hagrid, didn't we have to get some other shopping done?" he asked, trying to distract the normally cheerful professor from his dismal thoughts.

And perhaps himself from his _own_ thoughts, as well.

* * *

It wasn't long until Duo had been bustled over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. It was yet another name that had the braided teen arching his eyebrows in disbelief. Robes? Didn't anyone in this place ever choose to wear pants?

Hagrid, stepping in behind him, glanced around, giving a wide smile to the proprietor. "We've come teh get the lad some proper clothes. He 'as practically nothin'."

The proprietor, a rather heavy-set witch with an only slightly fake smile pasted on her face, immediately bustled over to them. "Hello Hagrid, dear. And who might this darling be?"

Beaming, Hagrid introduced them, explaining that Duo was a recent transfer to Hogwarts from America. The witch made sympathetic noises as the professor explained how the Headmaster had told him about the unfortunate accident that had destroyed the poor boy's clothes.

All throughout the conversation, not even distracted by the part that he _knew_ Dumbledore must have made up, Duo seethed silently.

Damn it, _no one_ called him darling! That was what you called your mistress, or your precious little lap dog!

He waited until the conversation paused before smiling at the woman, having intentionally cut in before Hagrid could introduce her to him _just_ for this reason. "Are you the owner of this shop then ma'am?"

"Yes, I am." She gave him an even wider smile, looking as though she wanted to pinch his cheeks and coo at him.

"So, does that mean you're Madam Milkin?"

The everlasting smile suddenly wasn't quite so everlasting, and Duo gave a mental cheer as it visibly flickered. "No, dear, I'm Madame _Malkin_ ," the shopkeeper said fastidiously, taking great care in enunciating each syllable. "With an 'a'. Please try to remember that."

Duo smiled innocently, his eyes bright. "Yes, ma'am. Of course. I apologize," he said with a bow that hid the smirk that so desperately wanted to show on his face.

Seemingly satisfied by the apology, she set about getting the American outfitted in an array of play and school clothes, once she was assured of how large his budget was. Somehow, Duo had managed to convince her that the only actual color he needed for his clothes was red, barely dodging an array of blues, violets, and greens. He also managed to get more clothes in a similar style to the one he was already wearing.

An hour later, as they were leaving, Duo turned and waved at the woman, giving her a cheeky smile. She'd refused to stop calling him darling, therefore... "Bye-bye, Madame Milkin!"

He left before she could call him on it.

* * *

"Yeh really shouldn't o' done tha', y'know," Hagrid chided the teenager as they picked their way through the crowded alley. Or rather, Duo picked his way- a path simply seemed to open up in front of the gigantic professor.

Apparently, no one wanted to get stepped on.

The American snorted. "Didn't you hear what she called me?" he asked indignantly.

Hagrid looked taken aback. "'Darlin'?" he answered, obviously baffled as to how the young wizard could take offense to that, of all things.

Duo nodded vehemently, his braid thrashing behind him with the movement. "Exactly! I had to make her pay for that!"

"But I dun see..." He shook his head, peering down at the small figure at his side in confusion. 

"Do I look like some frufru little puppy? I mean, I can see if she wanted to call Zechs that, but me? I'm a _guy_ for one, and for two, I'm not a darling anything!" He curled his fingers into the black fur of the listed wizard, but the furred wizard didn't take exception. Apparently the woman had hit a nerve, and he was bright enough not to try to intercede on her behalf.

"I s'pose..." Hagrid conceded. "Still, tho', Madame Malkin is a very nice lady. I'll be expectin' yeh to apologize next time yeh see 'er."

Duo rolled his eyes, but nodded nevertheless. After all, no one had mentioned anything to him about having to actually come back here...

"Where next?" he asked, tired of that particular subject. "I've already got books..."

Hagrid nodded. "We'll still be needin' teh get you quills an' such, tho'. An' after tha', we'll stop by the 'pothecary teh get you yer Potions supplies."

The American paused, nearly cringing as he heard the word _quill_. "Can't we go get some pens? Please? Potions supplies sound okay, but can't I get some real paper or something?" Silently he wished for the convenience of a laptop. He suddenly understood the draw the stupid thing had had for Heero. It was just so much more organized...

"Pens? What do yer need them for? If yeh got a quill why do yeh need anythin' else?" He gave the boy a curious look, not having a real clue what a pen was. With the reference though, he could guess.

" _Why_? Because those quills are a freakin' _menace_ , that's why," Duo asserted, frowning at his companion. "Half the time the tips break when ya try to use 'em, and the rest of the time the damn ink bleeds. Why the hell do you people use them?"

Hagrid blinked, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before he could get out a reply. "Er... we always 'ave."

Duo wrinkled his nose in disgust. "In other words, 'it's traditional, therefore it's better'." Sirius, listening to the conversation, couldn't hold in a doggy snicker at the pure disdain in the teenager's voice.

To the boy's surprise, however, Hagrid nodded. "Yeah. Wizards are fond o' tradition, and suchlike. Takes a long time fer anythin' new teh be accepted."

"That's so stupid! I mean, ugh. You'd think the people who came from outside families would at least _know_ better." He shook his head, completely disgusted. He'd never once been fond of the stupid traditions others were.

"I's nah that bad..." He trailed off, thinking, and a moment later, when he went to finally defend the traditional position, he only found a very confused looking black dog at his side. "Where' did 'e go?"


	14. Chapter 13

Duo stalked along Diagon Alley, muttering angrily to himself. It was just his luck to get landed with a bunch of complete and utter _morons_ like wizards who _didn't like new things_! Were they _blind_? New things weren't going to go away just because they ignored them! New things tended to stay, and wipe out the old stuff!

And if the wizards weren't careful, they'd be wiped away, too...

It was quite some time before Duo's steam ran out, and he came to an abrupt stop in front of a store advertising obscure books for sale and print. He leaned against its wall with a sigh, looking out at the bustling street of witches and wizards, and snorted.

Hell, that Einstein quote must've been right, after all. Stupidity really _was_ a constant, even if the universe wasn't, considering he'd traveled three hundred years and still managed to land right smack dab in the middle of a true example of human brilliance.

It took him a couple minutes to fully calm down, and it was only then that he noticed that most of the people in the Alley were skirting around one of the side alleys, pretending it wasn't there. Perking up at the thought of something that wasn't accepted by these 'traditional' people, he moved forward, glancing to the sign over his head that stated 'Knockturn Alley.'

"Hmmm..." He then stepped into the darkened area, almost grinning at the morbid atmosphere that met him.

* * *

"Where the bleedin' hell _is_ 'e?" Hagrid muttered out loud as he searched the busy throng, becoming more and more frantic with each passing moment. "The Professor is _nah_ gonna like this..."

Trotting beside him, Sirius couldn't help but agree with the half-giant. Losing one of his students was _not_ the way to get on Albus Dumbledore's good side.

Suddenly caught on that thought, the animagus froze dead in his tracks, nearly stumbling over his paws. Oh, Merlin, _Albus_...

He'd never reported in!

Mentally castigating himself, he sat down by the side of the alley, not even noticing when Hagrid's broad back vanished into the crowd. Maybe Snape had told him? Surely he would have at least _mentioned_ it... _Anything_ , any possibility that Albus might know where he was had to be better than the alternative...

With a wince, he looked up, and then blinked as he realized the enormous professor was nowhere in sight.

* * *

Duo wandered deeper into the alley, peering into shop windows as a vaguely dark smile grew on his face. Only one person had tried to bother him so far, and the man's pathetic attempt to scare him had landed the man in a wall after an instinctive throw on Duo's part.

So, since then, he'd been given a considerable distance. It was a relief after not having any time being left alone in the castle. Not that he minded the other students, but he didn't like being around people who were so innocent all the time... made him feel old.

After browsing through a couple of the odder-looking shops, he stepped up to one that was called Borgin and Burkes. Immediately, the wall of weapons caught his eye, and he made his way over with a growing grin.

* * *

Long minutes later, Sirius took refuge from the various stares and whispers of "Grim!" beneath a wooden bench. He laid his head down on his paws, trying to figure out just when everything had gone wrong. Was it when he'd lost Hagrid, Duo had pulled his vanishing act, or when he'd decided to get up _early_ this morning...?

He sighed distractedly. So much for swearing to keep an eye on the kid. His first real day on the job, and he'd managed to screw up spectacularly.

Where _had_ Duo gone, anyway? Sure, Diagon Alley was the commercial seat of wizarding England, but it wasn't exactly _large_. A few people would be able to search it in a reasonable amount of time... Except that he _wasn't_ 'a few people'. And he couldn't even get Hagrid to help him, considering the half-giant didn't know he was innocent yet.

Well, the brute force option to find Duo was out, then. That only left using his brain.

Sirius snorted humorously. If Moony was here, he just _knew_ the man would be dryly cautioning him not to hurt himself.

Determined, he bent to his task. From what he remembered, Duo had been just a _little_ upset when he'd disappeared. And based on what he knew about the American's personality, the youth _really_ reminded him of when _he'd_ been a kid.

The animagus closed his eyes to concentrate. Now, whenever he was angry over something, something that he couldn't rant to James or Remus about, what did he do?

His eyes snapped open, and he could just imagine a figurative candle lighting itself over his head. Why, he caused trouble, of course!

Memories of the Black family trips that he'd been dragged along on when he was very young passed through his mind, and he rose to stare at a sign only a few meters down the street. With a resigned chuff, he emerged from beneath the bench and trotted over, and past it.

After all, what better place to cause trouble than Knockturn Alley?

* * *

Duo had gotten into an argument with the owner of the shop. He'd gotten about halfway through the weapons in his study when he'd felt the man hovering. How could the man run a business like that?

"Did you want something?" Peering over his shoulder as he fingered a blade, he couldn't help but show his annoyance with the whole hovering thing. 

"Were you looking for something specific?" The silky questioning started civilly enough, but rapidly backslid into an argument.

"Not really, just browsing, but..." Duo snorted. "Now I don't think I'll be doin' even that. You call this an _edge_?" he demanded, pulling one of the daggers from the wall. "This couldn't cut through a soggy tissue!"

The proprietor pulled himself indignantly upright, huffing at the boy's impertinent tone. "I'll have you know, young sir, that each and every one of my blades is specially enchanted to hold its edge and-"

The Gundam pilot let a sneer that would have done Professor Snape proud curl his lip. "'Holdin' its edge' don't mean shit if the damn thing was dull to begin with," he commented sardonically. "And the so-called 'edge' ain't the worse thing about these. How can ya sleep at night after sellin' poor steel like these things are made out of?"

In demonstration, he hefted the blade he'd grabbed and stalked over to where two bookshelves stood less than a centimeter from each other. He stuck the knife blade in between them, and with a quick movement snapped it in two.

"See?" he asked, bending down to pick up the broken piece up off the floor. "I barely even had to _touch_ it."

The owner of the blade choked a little, eyes widening at the action. "How _dare_ you!! You intend to pay for that, right?"

"Of course not! That was a piece of shit weapon. You wouldn't get a penny for it where I'm from." He scoffed. "I can show you the bad quality of the rest of the lot if I have to."

"Don't you _dare_!" the shopkeeper said, raising his voice. "My weapons are some of the best available!"

The American sniffed disdainfully. "Somehow, I doubt that..." Then an idea struck him, and he grinned evilly. "Here, let me show you what a _real_ blade looks like..."

Borgin blinked uncomprehendingly as he felt a breeze pass by his ear. Puzzled, he turned and stared at the wall behind him.

Or more accurately, at the thrown knife still quivering _in_ that wall. And at the spider it had pinned down.

He stared for a few more seconds, then turned back to the smirking teenager. "Get. Out," he breathed, livid. _No one_ threatened him in his own shop!

In response, Duo only bowed mockingly, then bounced out of the shop far more cheerfully than he had come in.

* * *

The large, sinister-looking black dog only attracted a few stares as he wandered through Knockturn Alley, and those of its ominous denizens who _did_ stare were quick to look away, cursing their curiosity.

Sometimes, Sirius thought to himself, looking like a Grim had its advantages.

"Zechs?!"

Well, that explained where his charge had gotten off to at the very least, and he turned his head to peer in the direction the boy had gone, following after the voice. It was only a few seconds before he was standing in front of the black-clad boy, giving him a stern look.

"Definitely Zechs." He grinned, leaning to curl his fingers in his scruff. "Well, since you found me, ya might as well come with me. I already got thrown out of there. Just because I carry better blades..." He gestured disgustedly, glad he'd remembered to grab his knife on the way out.

Sirius gave him another look. Did he really want to know...?

No, he didn't. Shaking his head, he took Duo's wrist gently between his teeth and started pulling him back in the direction of Diagon Alley. Once he was sure the teenager wouldn't stop, he let him loose, this time keeping an eye on the American to make sure he wouldn't run off on him again.

"Do we _have_ to go?" Duo whined plaintively. "I mean, sure, that store sucked, but some of the others looked really interesting..."

Giving his charge a plaintive, yet stern, look he proceeded to herd the boy out into the brightly lit areas of Diagon Alley. Within two minutes, Hagrid headed in their direction. He could see over the crowd, making searching much easier. Besides, he knew the young ones tended to head for that Alley.

Duo could only grumble about the sheer unfairness of being dragged from the fun place so soon.

* * *

Harry stretched and felt bones creak as he walked out of the classroom. Yeah, sure, sleeping during History of Magic was _much_ better than actually staying awake to listen to Professor Binns, but sleeping while sitting at a desk played hell with your neck...

Well, at least he had a free period now to recover. He didn't want to think about what another hour and a half spent sitting in one of those infernal contraptions Hogwarts called 'desks' would do to his spine.

Hermione bustled out of the classroom, followed closely by Ron. She gave him a quick nod, then took off at a run down one of the hallways, while the redhead came to a stop beside the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Honestly," Ron exclaimed, shaking his head, "the girl must be mental, still taking that many classes!"

"She _is_ loving it, though," Harry observed with a tiny grin. "Now that she's cut them down enough that she doesn't have to use a Time Turner, at least."

"I s'pose..." Ron glanced at him. "Want to head back to the Tower? Or go visit Hagrid, maybe?"

Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore sent Hagrid on some kind of errand. Maybe if we went to visit Dobby in the kitchens instead?" The redheaded Gryffindor nodded with a smile, undoubtedly thinking of the many treats he would be able to wheedle out of Hogwarts' scores of house elves.

The two of them wandered down the hall until they were sure they were out of sight of any students still hanging around. Then Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map and checked it for anyone who might intercept them on their way down to the kitchens.

The coast was clear, and they quickly set off.

* * *

Duo rocked on his heels, looking around and practically cringing over the antiques he was surrounded with. Parchment and quills... It was enough to make a devoted tech whimper in agony. That was something he wasn't _quite_ willing to stoop to. 

"I don't care what you think, we need to go out where the _normal_ people are for some of these supplies... You know, among the muggles? Because I will _not_ use that antique!!" And he pointed at a quill.


	15. Chapter 14

Sirius sighed and, had he been currently capable of it, would have pouted as he sat outside the latest store Duo had dragged them to in muggle London. Damn it, what was with muggles and their ‘no pets’ laws, anyway? You’d think it was one of the bloody Ten Commandments or something...

After a quick stop in Gringotts to exchange Galleons for pounds, the braided American had insisted on stopping at first an office supplies store to pick up an armload of pens and what he called ‘notebooks’, and then at a supermarket for a few bags of coffee- which Hagrid at first stood against, but soon allowed after an application of puppy eyes the dog animagus would have been hard pressed to top.

And finally, here they were at what Duo promised was the last stop of the day, so he could buy something called a... laptop?

Duo moved around the store, trying not to groan out loud. The machines were _primitive_. Even he could fix something up better, but for that, he needed parts. He quickly set about picking out the nicest laptop he could locate. He'd modify it later. That process in particular took a good hour.

When he finally came out, Sirius gave the teen the most miserable look on the planet, making the American give him an apologetic smile. He'd gotten so wrapped up in what he was doing he forgot he had to leave him outside. 

Then he remembered something. "Oh! Hagrid! We need to get Zechs a collar still."

Sirius’ ears went back, and the animagus fixed the teenager with a look of utter betrayal. Duo winced, and patted his head. "Sorry, boy, but if you don’t have a collar someone might try to take you away as a stray," he explained apologetically.

"’E’s right, y’know," Hagrid contributed, not seeming to find it at all odd that they were trying to convince a dog. "I’ve ‘eard o’ the muggles roundin’ up strays. Yeh don’ wan’ that teh happen to _you_ , do yeh?

The dog continued to stare up at them plaintively for a few more moments, then whined unenthusiastically, his shoulders slumping. "Don’t worry, Zechs," Duo said cheerfully, ruffling his ears. "I promise not to get any of the pink ones that say ‘I Love Fluffy’ on them."

The mere suggestion earned the boy a horrified look, and the American had to hurry and grab onto his scruff before he could try to escape. "It was a joke! I wasn't considering it, promise!" The look didn't go away. "You'll like the collar, and you _really_ worry too much."

* * *

The pet store, at least, would allow Sirius to enter. Hagrid looked like he was in heaven.

"Who’s a cute li’l pup, eh?" he crooned, practically nose to nose with several rottweiler puppies in a plastic pen. Duo laughed quietly to himself as he browsed through the small store’s selection of dog collars. Damn, but Tro’ and the big guy would _definitely_ get along...

Consideringly, he reached out and fingered a pure black leather collar with a silver buckle. Then with a shake of his head, he pulled his hand away. Nice or not, no one would be able to see that against Zechs’ dark fur. Maybe the violet, or the bright red...

"Hey, Zechs? Come take a look at these and tell me what you think," he called out, staring between the two collars.

The animagus, after glaring at the puppy with all his might for a couple minutes, finally padded over to Duo, leaning against the teen as he peered up at him. He couldn't have picked something already, could he?

The teen picked up one of each of the colored leather collars, one dark violet and one deep red. Both had silver looking metal. "Okay, which one?"

Sirius stared at them thoughtfully, and finally nudged the red one. Hey, he _was_ a Gryffindor, after all...

Even if he _was_ staying in the Slytherin dorms.

Duo grinned. "Great! We’ll get this one, then," he said, putting the violet collar back. Sirius padded quietly after him as the boy bounced up to the counter to pay for the collar.

* * *

"Do I _have_ to?" the teenager was whining long minutes later, scowling balefully at the little jar of Floo powder Hagrid was holding out to him on one broad palm.

Sirius was fully adorned with the red leather collar and a tag with his pseudonym. He didn't want to admit he rather liked it, so he pretended it wasn't there. He wasn't all that happy that Hagrid was going to carry him through the Floo, either; it was embarrassing.

Hagrid nodded, giving the teen what he figured was a reassuring smile. "G'on then, it’s nah tha' bad. Yeh'll see. Much nicer'n before."

Sighing in defeat, the American conceded to returning to Hogwarts by this method of transport... But that didn't mean he ever planned on doing it again!

"All right..." He grabbed a handful of the powder and tossed it into the dancing flames. "Hogwarts, the Great Hall!" he called out, trying not to choke on his sudden mouthful of ash.

Within moments Duo was tumbling out onto the flagstones of the Great Hall, which, except for him, was totally empty. He hurried to get out of the way, still spluttering, and soon after Hagrid arrived with the animagus in his arms.

* * *

They’d been in the kitchens for not quite an hour when the house elves had politely but nevertheless firmly shooed them out the door so they could prepare lunch. Neither of the boys really minded, though- Ron had had _plenty_ to snack on, and Harry liked Dobby, but there was only so much of the energetic house elf a person could take in one sitting.

They stood just outside the portrait entrance as Harry again pulled out the Marauder’s Map to check where everyone was. The Gryffindor scanned it carefully, noting three students a couple corridors over and Filch prowling about not quite on the other side of the castle. He was about to put it away again, satisfied, when a new arrival appeared into the Great Hall, by Floo, if the little stylized burst of flames was anything to go by. That wasn’t what caught his attention, though, or made his breath catch in his throat.

No, that would be the arrival’s _name_.

_Adrian Potter._

Harry stared at the tiny dot, stunned. He worked his mouth, producing only an unintelligible noise the first time he tried, but managing to actually speak on the second try. " _Ron_."

The redhead glanced at him, and blinked when he saw his friend’s pale face. "Harry? Harry, mate, what is it?"

The Boy-Who-Lived reached out and grabbed his sleeve, bodily pulling him over. "Look," he muttered, tapping the dot with a shaking finger as the Map showed Rubeus Hagrid and Sirius Black Flooing in as well. " _Look_."

Ron gaped. "Bloody hell..." He looked up. "But I thought those Dursleys were your only family?"

Harry nodded slowly. "So did I... At least, that’s what Professor Dumbledore told me. Why would he lie?"

"Maybe he didn’t know?"

"Maybe..." The wizard frowned. "Hey, wait, they’re moving... Hagrid’s leaving, and the others are coming..." He followed the lines of Hogwarts’ corridors, tracing the stranger’s path. "Towards us! Come on!" He grabbed his friend’s robes and took off down the corridor.

"Harry? Mate, what’re we doing?" the redhead managed to gasp out two hallways and a sharp turn later.

"I have to see him!" Harry panted back. "I have to..."

Ron nodded, and increased his pace, while Harry’s eyes never left the Map as they grew steadily closer to the two dots. They reached a corner at the same time as Sirius and the strange Potter, and the teenager’s mind shrieked out a warning just a little too late, as they crashed at full speed into the two wizards.

* * *

Duo hadn't been all that keen on the Floo in the first place, but he had to admit that Sirius got the raw end of the deal. C’mon, Hagrid looked like he wanted to run off and study him or something. Luckily, he was distracted before he could get past the lesser evil of thinking about it. Excusing himself as he remembered something he'd forgotten to do that morning, the teacher practically ran off.

The American teen glanced around, noting nobody was around. "Oi, Zechs." With an almost sigh, the animagus looked up, feeling Duo hook his fingers into the collar he was wearing as he started to walk, carrying most of his things in his other hand. "You know how to unshrink all this?" He lifted his arm in illustration.

An amused chuff answered him, and the older wizard nodded, heading down the corridor with the teen. The teen talked rather aimlessly about the laptop system he was going to put together, mentioning a few details that had the Animagus concerned over what the boy was into... Not that he hadn't been before...

"The whole weapon thing? I'll tell you about it while we're alone, okay? I guess you deserve to know who you're dealing with." The braided teen sighed a little, then picked up his step. "Let’s hurry up so I can put this mess _away_."

They'd just circled a corner when there was a rain of bags and bodies. Duo managed to land in a crouch as not to topple over Sirius, who was still injured, but Sirius himself wasn't so lucky. He ended up flattened by a redheaded boy. The little brother of those Weasley twins... Donnie or something. He was usually better with names, but he had other things on his mind right now.

Without really looking at the Harry kid he'd saved from his professor the other day, he turned to pry the kid's friend off Zechs. The man was _injured_ , honestly. "Dude, you're crushing the poor thing! He's still hurt!"

He didn't really relax until he got a vaguely annoyed look and a chuff in reply, only then looking at the other two sheepishly, seeing for the first time the black haired boy's stunned expression. "Sorry about that man, he's just been hurt, and I really don't want to have to patch him up again. You get tired of that sort of thing after a while." He got to his feet, righting the animagus before looking over at Harry. "Oi, you okay? Both of you?"

Ron managed to shake away the cobwebs first, shooting a sheepish glance at Sirius, who was really more amused than anything, before getting to his feet. "Sorry mate, we were just coming around a bit fast is all... Harry and I will be going now, right?"

"There's no reason to streak off like that. We were just heading to my dorm anyway. I bet most of the students are still in their classes or something. You can help me carry and _find_ all of this mess." He gestured around, starting to pick up the shrunk packages.

Harry looked at the map. Yes, Adrian Potter was moving around right next to his feet. He looked back at Duo. Yep, the American had gotten Ron to help him deal with his packages, and Sirius was watching in something that seemed to be affectionate amusement... and worry? Map. People. Map. People. 

He tapped the map once, and said clearly: "Mischief managed."

The longhaired boy got to his feet, last package held between his fingers. "You don't mean to tell me you tackled me and Zechs on purpose do ya? I thought you liked us!"

Straightening his glasses, the boy-who-couldn't-get-himself-killed shook his head. "I like you fine... but you said your name was Duo Maxwell, right?"

The smile the boy had on his face wavered a little, and he gave Harry a vaguely wary look. "Of course I did. I don't lie."

"Is it?" He moved forward a little, seemingly heedless of the suspicion he was garnering.

"It's the only name I know." His fingers itched to do something, but he wasn't exactly feeling threatened at the moment. More... a sense of premonition.

"Well, I'll tell you the one that interests me." Lifting the map in his hand, and grateful for class being in session, he reactivated the map, showing it to Duo, much to Ron's shock. He then pointed out the name that had sent him this direction. "The name Adrian Potter is the one that interests me." 

And amazingly, Duo seemed to be in about the same level of shock that Harry had been in. It came through in a dazed whisper. "I have family?"


	16. Chapter 15

For a moment, Sirius felt shock run through him as he stared at the map in his godson’s hand. It couldn’t be... Damn it, there weren’t any Potters left, except for Harry! Voldemort had made a point of going after the entire family after he found out James and Lily were under the Fidelius...

Then the animagus shook his head as he remembered just when Duo Maxwell was from, and the shock settled into a kind of numbness. Oh, it was possible, all right.

Harry and Duo just needed to be related in the _other_ direction.

None of the three thoroughly-shocked teenagers standing above him seemed to realize that, though, and he whined, trying to catch their attention. That didn’t work, so Sirius reached out and grabbed Duo’s long sleeve between his teeth. The American glanced down at him, stunningly violet eyes bewildered, as the wizard pulled him down the corridor. Behind them, the two Gryffindors followed along in a daze.

A couple of corridors later they reached their destination, an unused classroom that Sirius knew from experience was good for clandestine talks. Once all of the teenagers had entered the room, he shook himself and changed back.

The transformation pulled an appalled cry from the formerly catatonic Boy-Who-Lived, and he sent a horrified look towards the oblivious Slytherin, who was obviously trying to work out something in his mind. "It’s all right, he knows," Sirius said quickly, and after another wary glance, Harry relaxed.

Crisis averted, the escaped convict took a moment to study the distracted teenager. He brought up his hands and framed Duo’s face, trying to block out the shorter frame and long braid. Well, the bangs were certainly messy enough... "What does your hair look like when it’s short?" he asked.

It was a second before Duo seemed to even realize he’d been asked a question. "Huh? Um... I don’t remember it ever _being_ short," he replied with a frown. "Why?"

Sirius shrugged. "I was trying to see if you had the Potter hair."

A choked laugh came from beside them, where Ron had seated himself on a desk. "Oh, come on, Sirius, you know that’s not the way you tell if someone’s a Potter." He looked at Duo. "Are you a trouble magnet?"

Duo snorted. "Is the earth round? Or water wet? Calling me a trouble magnet is like calling Hagrid ‘a little above average height’."

The three Gryffindors exchanged glances and sage nods. "You’re a Potter," they said in complete unison.

Duo blinked at the absoluteness of the statement and fiddled with the end of his braid a little. He let an amused grin streak across his face. "Really, a bit of a family legacy is it?" He addressed this over to Sirius, who really didn't care for the implications, since he knew both boys had lost many they cared for.

The animagus coughed uncomfortably into a fist. "Er, yes. Rather." There was a bemused silence, until abruptly Harry frowned.

"Wait. Dumbledore said I didn’t have any family left except the Dursleys, and that’s why I have to stay there. Why would he lie?" the teenager asked, troubled.

Duo shrugged. "Well, I kinda doubt he knew... I mean, there’d be no way he could know, really, unless he had a map like that."

Harry shook his head. "No. Dumbledore knows _everything_. So how could he not know?"

"First of all, _no one_ knows everything," the American stated firmly, pointing at the Boy-Who-Lived to emphasize his words. "No one. Well..." He glanced at Sirius. "Can Dumbledore see the future?" he asked.

The wizard shook his dark head. "No. Well... he can anticipate it really well," he qualified, "but I doubt he can see it."

Duo nodded, satisfied. "Right. So, ya see," he said, turning back to Harry, "there’s really no way the old man could’ve known."

The Gryffindor looked confused, sharing a glance with an equally puzzled Ron. "...How would not being able to see the future mean he wouldn’t know about you?" he ventured.

The braided boy smirked, plopping himself down onto a rather dusty desk. "’Cause I’m time-traveling, of course!"

There was a collective blink.

Ron shifted from foot to foot, then shook his head. "Okay, I think you got us. Really. It's a good joke mate, but be a bit serious, will you?"

Sirius would have quite happily have lived without the boy's annoyed look. He didn't believe the boy either, but he wasn't about to _say_ so. "I am being serious. I am from about three hundred years in the future."

The green-eyed boy shook his head a little. "I didn't think it was possible to go back so far."

Having been left out of the time-turner ordeal entirely, the redhead was lost. "Mate?"

Harry grimaced. Right. "Erm... remember third year? Hermione was taking way too many classes, and then we disappeared from the hospital wing? That was a time-turner... And Hermione said those could only go back days at the most," he finished, looking at Duo with an obvious question in his eyes.

The American shrugged. "Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t use a time-whatsis. I just did a spell out of a musty old book."

"What book?" Ron asked, still more than a little bit skeptical. He scowled as the other two Gryffindors stared at him. "What? You _know_ Hermione’s going to ask..."

Harry frowned thoughtfully. "Speaking of Hermione... Duo, why do you act like that around her? Like she’s a saint or something, I mean."

Duo nodded seriously. "That’s because in my time, she practically is." He cradled his chin in a hand, his elbow on the desk. "Ya see, Hermione Granger was the mother of Marcus Lagrange. Marcus was a man who took after his great-great-uncle Josef Lagrange." He rolled his eyes at their blank looks. "The physicist?" he reminded them impatiently. "Don’t tell me you guys forgot that conversation already."

The two boys quickly nodded, though Sirius still looked confused. The teenager sighed. "Josef Lagrange discovered several points in space that would provide an object with a stable orbit," he lectured, his voice lilting almost mockingly. "Just what do you people learn, anyway?" He shook his head as they started to answer. "Never mind, I don’t want to know."

Duo leaned back, still in lecturing mode. "Anyway, Marcus Lagrange took Josef’s research and used it to begin the Colonial Initiative in 2037 A.D. About seventy years later, they succeeded in launching the first of the colonies, which were basically _really_ big, as in _enormous_ space stations. The launch of L1, or Lagrange One, ushered in the After Colony Era. In the not quite two centuries since, the program launched four more satellites, colonies L2 through L5. And as far as I know, I was born on L2. So ya see," he finished, "Hermione Granger is a person indirectly responsible for the biggest leap forward humanity has made since an uppity ape decided to walk on its hind legs."

There was extended pause, until finally Ron asked the question that had been nagging him since the moment the word 'son' had been said. "Um, who's that guy's dad?"

Duo’s face went blank as he tried to remember. "Um... you know, I don’t think the history vids ever mentioned it," he said thoughtfully. "Guess they didn’t really think he was important."

Harry had to turn away to hide his tiny grin at the disappointed look on Ron’s face. He knew he wasn’t supposed to find his best friend’s hopeless crushes amusing, but... damn it, they bloody well were! The sighs, and the puppy dog looks...

"Guess I'll have to find out the long way, won't I mate?" He sighed out a breath and let it go. "So... You're from the future. Is the future cool?"

Duo hesitated with that, eyeing the others. "I'd really rather not get into it right now."

Harry frowned at his... descendant (and Merlin, did that sound _odd_ , even in his head...). He could understand Duo not wanting to tell them anything if his reason was so he wouldn’t mess up the future, but... something in his cobalt eyes told the wizard that wasn’t why. But if not that, then what?

An answer was just there, on the tip of his metaphoric tongue. He concentrated harder, trying to reach it... And then a memory floated through his mind:

_"Who? Who have you lost?"_

"Everyone..."

As soon as the memory struck, Harry could have smacked himself. How could he have forgotten that for even an instant? His... descendant... was an orphan, but unlike him, he didn't have some relative. That tone had been too despairing. "Maybe, after you trust us a bit more?"

The braided teen angled him a look and quirked his lips a little sadly. "I'll keep that in mind."

Ron looked like he was about to protest, until Harry sent him a beseeching glance. The redhead frowned but nevertheless nodded, and Duo glanced away from the Gryffindors uncomfortably. It wasn’t lying if you didn’t say the words... and he wasn’t planning on actually lying about anything. Just...

Did they _really_ need to hear that his kill count put most annual incomes to shame?

Sighing, he looked back up and nearly jumped out of his skin. "Holy shit!"

Sirius pushed away from the wall where he’d been leaning. "Duo? What is it?" he asked the boy, concerned by the way he was staring fixedly at a space just over his godson’s shoulder.

The American didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, he slowly rose from the desk, his face pale. " _Quatre_?!"

He blinked, and the shade didn't go away. Instead he approached the green-eyed boy, taking in the puzzlement underlying the shade of what was to be. "It's hard to explain."

Duo gestured helplessly, trying to find the words. "...The spell I cast, to come here. It wasn’t _really_ a time travel spell, that was just one of the possible results. What it was supposed to do was let me follow the soul of my best friend. He’d... passed away."

Harry winced, genuinely sympathetic, and sent a tiny glance towards Ron. The redhead could be annoying and insensitive sometimes, but he didn’t want to know what life might be like without him by his side...

The American shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Anyway... one of the effects of the spell was supposed to be that I’d somehow be able to see just who he was, as a previous incarnation, I guess. But I must’ve messed it up, ‘cause I’m seeing everyone _but_ him."

The Boy-Who-Lived blinked. "Are you saying... I’m someone from your time? Er, someone who will be, I mean?"

Nodding, Duo glanced over at Sirius. "You’re not the first. That was _him_ ," he said, pointing at the ex-convict. "He’ll be a guy named Zechs Merquise. And Hagrid’s Howie..."

"So... who’s Harry?" Ron inquired, curious.

The Slytherin was about to answer, when suddenly he got the oddest expression on his face and he started to laugh. "What? What is it?" Harry asked, a little bewildered by his descendant’s sudden mirth. "Who am I?"

A couple more laughs escaped before Duo could calm himself long enough to answer. "Remember... remember the first time we ever talked? Outside the Great Hall?" Harry nodded, and the teen continued. "Remember the ‘famous friend’ I mentioned?" The Gryffindor nodded again, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Why did he think he knew where this was going...?

And sure enough, Duo smirked at him, a thoroughly impish look in his eyes. "Guess who?"

Harry gave him a somewhat horrified look. "No, you're joking, right?"

He laughed. "No. Quatre Raberba Winner, youngest of the thirty Winner children, head of the biggest, most well-known corporation on Earth and the colonies, and the best tactician I have _ever_ met."

He received various responses from around the room: "Corporation?" " _Thirty_?!" "Tactician?"

Duo winced and looked over at Sirius, who had voiced that last one. Damn, for someone who was trying to keep a secret, his big mouth certainly kept letting the wrong things out... "Um, yeah. I tried playing a couple of chess games with him once. Took the hint and stopped trying after he beat me in seven moves."

Harry blinked. "Are you sure you’re not talking about Ron? I mean, I can never beat him at chess..."

Ron shook his head. "Honestly, mate, if you ever actually tried to anticipate what direction the game was going in, you’d be pretty good." He snickered. "Thirty kids, though... I think you just beat me there."

Duo latched onto the distraction, knowing he'd be spilling some secrets for Sirius later. Many of them. "He was the only boy. I think his youngest sister was about twenty when I met her..." He got a vaguely chagrined look as he remembered Iria. "She was a good person."

Did nothing in his life not involve death? Was that too much to ask for?


	17. Chapter 16

What felt like a long time later, Duo threw himself down on his bed in the Slytherin dorms with a heartfelt groan. "Zechs? Could you do me a favor?" he murmured as he felt the animagus jump up on his bed. "Life-changing revelations are all well and good, but they're kinda hard on a guy. Can we save any more for later?"

Sirius looked around the dorm, which, as it was still lunch, was thankfully empty. He changed back and shook his head as the teenager sat up, alerted by the shifting of the bed when the weight on it changed. "Sorry, but no can do," he said firmly. "There are some questions I _really_ need you to answer."

The young American closed his eyes with a weary sigh, resignation flashing over his face. "What do you want to know?" he asked quietly, laying back down and folding his arms beneath his head.

Sirius hesitated, then plunged on in. "There's a lot of things about you that don't add up. You carry knives up your sleeves, you threaten to blow people up, and you know _way_ too many dead people." Right after he said that, he winced. Damn, but could he be any more insensitive...?

There was silence for a long moment. "My time isn't a very... _happy_ one," Duo finally said, his eyes still closed. "Up until just before I came here, the entire world was at war. My friends and I fought in it."

The Animagus didn’t know whether to be stunned or angry. Do they never learn? If what Duo said was true, then it was beyond frustrating. It was the same thing they were trying to do to Harry! "So you’re a soldier."

The American took in the almost toneless reply. That hadn’t really been what was expected. "No... soldiers have backup. There were five of us, put in charge of the most powerful weapons, and we were told to save the world from more than one army. No, I’m not a soldier, I’m a terrorist."

Sirius sat there for a minute, contemplating those almost... _casual_ words, and felt a rush of rage bury the numbness inside. Those _bastards_... How could they do something like this to a _child_? Make him believe himself to nothing more than a, a...

He shook his head helplessly. Damn them... damn them all to the deepest, darkest hells...

The animagus stopped his thoughts, and blinked. No, no, not hell. That was too good for them.

No, Azkaban would be far better a place for them. As he well knew...

Unnoticed, Duo had finally opened dull, cobalt eyes, and was watching him with an utterly blank face. "What are you going to do now?" he asked quietly, and the wizard started, looking up at the teenager. "Run? Scream? Hate me? Or hurt me?"

Sirius stared at him, confused. Hate him? Hurt him? Why would he expect...?

Then it hit him, seeing the hopeless despair in the boy's... no, the _young man's_ jaded eyes. _Terrorist_. That was what Duo's world had named him.

And you didn't love terrorists. Not even when you were the ones they were fighting for.

Sirius' jaw clenched. He knew what he had to do, now. He had to keep Albus and the Ministry from making Harry into what his heir had become. He had to keep the light in those emerald eyes shining.

And most of all, he needed to help the damaged soul in front of him.

Duo saw the muscles in the older man's jaw tighten, and interpreted them the wrong way. He flinched, and closed his eyes to wait for what was to come. Really, he shouldn't be so much of an optimist, to hope that the ex-convict would understand. No one ever did, except the other pilots. It always turned out the same way...

He wasn't very surprised when a hand took hold of his shoulder and pulled him upright. The wizard had always struck him as the kind who acted for himself, not the kind that ran for help...

And so, the boy _was_ shocked when, instead of feeling a fist impact his face, or his stomach, two arms went around him and held him tight.

He just sort of froze in the man’s arms, and Sirius rubbed a hand over the boy’s back, resting his cheek on top of his head. "I wouldn’t do that to you. You have yet to give me a single reason to do any of those things. I’ll admit the entire knife thing freaked me out a bit, but other than that, you’ve given me no cause to be afraid of you."

Duo stuttered out a breath, somewhat shocked by the utter sincerity in the man’s voice. "But..."

"Shh. I won’t judge you. That’s what you expected me to do, isn’t it?" He eased his hold a little as the boy still just sat there, but didn’t get far before he was being hugged _back_.

"Easy," he croaked out as he heard ribs creak under the force of Duo's 'attack'. Despite being half-strangled, though, Sirius held him tighter with one arm and freeing the other hand to wind itself into the boy's braid. "It's all right... You're not alone. I won't let you be..."

"Promise?" Duo mumbled into his chest, his voice high and young-sounding.

Sirius nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of the teen's head. "I promise..."

The boy began to tremble in his embrace. "Heero promised, but he still left. We were supposed to stay together, the five of us, but he _left_... and now _I've_ left..."

"You’ve mentioned him before. Can you tell me what happened?" He made his voice soothing, trying to be sensitive. It wasn’t like he had a lot of practice at it. He made sure the question addressed any and everything the boy wanted to tell him.

Duo seemed to tense a fraction, then just curled into him, closing his eyes. "He died! He survived _everything_ he’d been through just to get sick and _die_ when it was finally peaceful. Then I left... and now I’m _here_ and, and..." He let out a shuddering breath, trying not to cry.

"Sounds like an extraordinary guy," Sirius commented gently, trying to keep him talking now that the joker mask that kept everything bottled up inside had dropped.

The braided teenager nodded, sniffling just a little. "He was. He was my partner. We always did missions together, and stuff... we were the _best_. No one could beat us, when we were together."

Feeling his back starting to ache, Sirius shifted them around so that he was leaning against the headboard, still clutching Duo to his chest. "So how did you meet?" he asked once they were settled.

He was startled when Duo giggled. "I shot him twice."

"...Huh?"

Sirius felt the boy grin through his robes, and the chestnut head nodded. "I didn't realize he was another pilot... I was just walking along, minding my own business... and maybe planning out how to blow up a stockpile of ammunition... when I saw this guy pointing a gun at some rich little snobby girl. I shot him before he shot her, though I wish I hadn't, considerin' how she decided to follow us around like a little lost puppy afterwards..."

"I take it she was a bit... annoying then."

"You have no idea! I mean, she actually blew our cover a couple of times when she managed to track Heero down at the school he was hiding out in. One time he even used _my_ name to get into a school... I have a feeling she had something to do with it since he wasn’t talking to me at the time. I mean, she managed to locate us more often than the enemy, I’m just shocked nobody considered following _her_ around, really." He paused to take a breath.

"But, Heero resisted the urge to kill her from that point on, which is good, because the girl was actually a princess... I think she was convinced Heero was her knight in shining armor, though I have no idea _why_. I mean, she yelled at me for saving her life! What kind of gratitude is that?"

"A very odd kind..." Sirius answered absently. Still, it _did_ kind of remind him of how Snape hated James for saving his life... And he had the feeling this Heero was just as dangerous as a fully transformed werewolf.

Duo nodded, then froze. "Oh, God, why am I talking about _Relena_ , of all people? How did we get _there_?"

The wizard chuckled, a resonant rumbling deep in his chest. "I think you were talking about the first time you met Heero?"

The teenager took a deep breath. "Right. Um... change of subject?"

"Right. Okay... There were five of you. You’ve mentioned Heero and you. The others?"

Duo relaxed, an amused smile quirking his lips. It was so much easier to talk about the people who were alive and well where he came from. "That boy, Quatre, is one. He’s this blond haired, blue eyed little Arabian. I met him when Heero self-destructed. The bastard scared the crap out of all of us, we were so sure he was dead. But we found out later he was alive. When he came to save me, the bastard. He never let me live it down."

A pause. "But back to the Q. I remember one talk, our first one alone. We ended up talking together. It seems our controllers all had the same thing in mind. ‘Don’t worry about the colonies. Destroy them first. That’s your responsibility.’ It was word for word the same thing he’d been told. I never checked to see if it was the same for the others, but I’m sure it was. Take out the enemy, and the colonies would be fine. Never let them get you. I think Wufei is the only one that never tried to blow himself up... Arrogant little shit. I loved annoying him."

Another pause. "I’m pretty sure Trowa is keeping them from worrying about me. He was the calmest one out of everyone. I think he knew I was taking Heero’s death extra hard. I mean, I was the one put in charge of fixing him. Even with Sally’s help, we couldn’t figure out how to fix it. None of us trusted hospitals..." He stopped talking with a stuttered breath.

Sirius was only listening with half an ear by this point, as he went over those words in his mind. The words themselves seemed almost... _innocent_ \- at least, compared to what they meant for five children.

You don't matter. Your anger, your pain, your grief, _they_ don't matter... As long as you bring back the enemy's head on a platter.

He shivered, unconsciously holding on even tighter to the still-rambling boy in his arms. Well, there's be none of that _here_. Not if he had any say in it.

Though Sirius had the feeling that what _he_ said wouldn't matter much, if Albus realized there was a ready-made weapon to toss down Voldemort's throat residing beneath his roof.

Duo seemed to catch on to the silence and finally reigned himself into a stop after babbling about his time on the moon with Wufei, and how he’d asked him to stay with him until the end there. He peered up at Sirius in silence, trying to comprehend why he was so quiet.

The dark-haired wizard had an introspective, almost worried expression on his face, and seemed completely unaware that he was being watched. Duo looked at him for a few more seconds, then, following a half-formed whim, reached out and tapped him on the nose.

Sirius blinked at him, startled out of his thoughts. "What was _that_ for?" he asked, slightly incredulous.

The American shrugged unrepentantly. "You were thinking too hard. That's bad for you, ya know."

"Why does everyone always say that? I don’t think and they call me insane, I think and they call it unhealthy!" He let his thoughts fall from his mind for later speculation. "I call things like that a conspiracy."

Duo smirked. "Nah. It's only a conspiracy if there's a point to it. Like if we really _were_ trying to drive you crazy."

"Well, it's working, intended or not..." Sirius grumbled. It surprised both of them when his stomach seemed to agree with him with a rumble of its own.

The teenager blinked. "Oh, right, it's lunch time, isn't it?" he commented bemusedly, only then feeling similar pangs of his own.

Sirius nodded, and Duo quickly stood, hiding a faint blush as he realized he hadn't even remembered he was still sitting in the man's lap. "Well, come on, then. Let's see if we can still grab something." The longhaired boy started towards the door, but paused and looked back when he didn't hear anything behind him.

The animagus was still lying on the bed. "Hey, aren't you coming?"

Sirius grimaced, glancing downwards. "I would, but... I think my legs are asleep."


	18. Chapter 17

The next few days went well. For the most part he was left alone by everyone, something he was sure had to do with his... overzealous... companion. Sirius had slept through his Transfiguration tutoring the day before, so that hadn’t gone badly, but now he had been asked to go see the headmaster and to bring his pet. For some reason, said pet was far more nervous than he was.

The animagus was leading him through Hogwarts' labyrinth, presumably to the Headmaster's office, but it was almost painfully obvious that he didn't want to go. His steps lagged, and his shoulders drooped.

In fact, Duo realized, he almost looked like a child about to be scolded for something.

"Oi, you okay?" he asked quietly, reaching down and touching the animagus' shoulder.

Doleful brown eyes stared up at Duo pitifully in reply, the expression just screaming ‘please don’t make me!’

He tugged him off to the side and sighed a little. "Okay, are you worried he’ll know about you?" A shaken head denied that. "So it’s something else." A nod. "Do you think you’re in trouble?" Another nod. "Well, then let's get it over with already." And so they resumed their trek to the Headmaster’s office.

It wasn't long before they were standing before the gargoyle Duo remembered from his first visit. "Um... now what?" he asked the animagus at his side.

Sirius carefully glanced up and down the hallway, making sure there wasn't anyone watching. Thankfully, Albus still kept the corridor free of paintings, a remnant left over from the first war with Voldemort. After all, it wouldn't do any good to have a password if paintings could hear it...

"There's a password," he whispered, changing back to his human form for a few moments.

Duo grimaced, though he couldn't suppress a pang of amusement at the sight of the older man crouching on the ground with that bright red collar still around his neck. "Great. Just great. Tell us to come see him, and then not tell us how..." He paused and blinked at the wizard. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know it?"

Sirius shook his head. "Er... it's usually some kind of sweet," he suggested, before changing back. Being exposed like that _really_ made him uncomfortable...

The American sighed. "Lovely. Okay..." He turned to the gargoyle. "Um, Hershey's? Snickers? Mars Bars?" There was no response, and he sighed again. "Look, could you maybe be a nice, um, gargoyle, and let us in? I mean, he does kind of want to see us..."

It was to the animagus' complete shock that the gargoyle complied with the request. Duo, though, unaware of the famed obstinacy of that particular statuary, simply grinned. "Hey, thanks!" He bounded on ahead and up the stairwell, patting the gargoyle on its stony head as he passed.

The Gargoyle seemed about to take advantage of Sirius’ shock to close on his nose then, so he hurried to catch up, reaching Duo right as the door swung open. "Come in dear boy, come in."

Uncharacteristically obedient, the teenager stepped in as Sirius reluctantly sidled in behind him. "Hello again, Mr. Maxwell," Albus said cheerfully, a twinkle in his eyes until he spied the animagus. "And thank you for bringing your, er, pet..."

Realizing that the Headmaster wasn't sure if the teenager knew about him, Sirius quickly changed back. The elderly wizard froze for just a moment, then relaxed as he realized Duo wasn't reacting. "Sirius," he said with a reproving nod. "How very nice of you to _finally_ drop by."

The ex-convict winced. "Erm, about that... I meant to report in, I really did, but..."

Albus held up a hand. "Just a moment, please." He glanced at Duo. "I'm sorry, my boy, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside until this conversation is finished."

For a brief moment the American was annoyed, but then his brain caught up with his emotions. 'Report in', was it? And Zechs hadn't? No wonder they wanted this conversation to be private...

"No problem!" he replied cheerfully, stepping back to the door. Sirius sent him a pleading look, but Duo just grinned back at him, only slightly sympathetically.

After all, as much as he liked the guy, not reporting as soon as you could was a Very Bad Thing. "Sorry, pal, but this shit's just a little too deep for me to get you out of..."

Sirius has just enough time to experience a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach before Duo left, and he had to turn and look at Albus' stern face.

* * *

The ex-Gundam pilot was just growing bored, leaning against the wall outside of the Headmaster's office, when Sirius at last poked his head outside the door. "You can come back in," he said, his voice ragged and weary, which rather matched his haggard face.

Duo just nodded, walking past him with a concerned glance. Sirius gave him a reassuringly smile.

Hey, he was still alive, wasn't he?

Inside, Duo nodded to the Headmaster. "So, was there anything you wanted with me?" he asked, standing in front of the desk.

Albus smiled genially at him. "Well, would it be too much if I asked you to host Mr. Black for a few days? You seem to get along well..."

The teenager grinned disarmingly. "Sure! We're buddies!"

The old wizard relaxed. "Ah, good. And now that that's over with, how are you settling in at Hogwarts?" he asked, fixing him with a bright blue eye.

Duo was about to answer, when Sirius saw him stiffen and flick his eyes just over the Headmaster's shoulder, a gesture that was rapidly becoming familiar. What was unexpected, though, was the sudden flash of barely-concealed _hate_ in those cobalt eyes.

Whatever the reason, the American almost instantly relaxed again, grinning at the old man. "Great, now that I'm starting to get the hang of my wand. It was kind of weird at first."

Albus smiled. "I can imagine. And your classes? Have you been having any problems with your tutors?"

"Not yet. Professor McGonagall was a little scary at first, but she's not so bad once you get to know her," Duo answered, and Sirius blinked. Duo, scared of Minerva? When Snape's best glare didn't even phase him?

Then he caught sight of the odd light in the boy's eye, and realized that whatever had made that look appear in his eyes earlier had made him decide to do a bit of acting. Still more than a little puzzled, though, the wizard made a mental note to ask Duo just who he'd seen, and why he'd reacted like that.

Unaware of the silent drama that had just played out in front of him, Albus simply chuckled. "Yes, I suppose Minerva can be quite formidable at first." He glanced down at a few papers on his desk, and sighed. "I really am enjoying this conversation, but I'm afraid I do need to finish up some of this paperwork," he said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.

The braided teenager laughed. "Oh, goody, someone who hates filling out forms as much as I do..." He turned towards the door, more than ready to get out of there. "Have a nice day, Professor," he called over his shoulder.

The Headmaster beamed after him. "And you as well. Oh, and Sirius?" he said as the animagus started to follow the American out.

Sirius stopped. "Yes?" he asked with some trepidation.

But Albus simply smiled at him, blue eyes a-twinkling. "That's a very nice collar," he complimented him cheerfully, as the wizard's hand automatically went up to touch the aforementioned accessory. "I'm pleased you finally decided to start wearing one, it will make things much safer for you. Though, I _will_ have to ask Duo how he got you to wear it, since my asking you to for years had no effect."

For no reason that he could fathom, except that there was something _knowing_ in those eyes, Sirius blushed. Without a word, he turned and followed the Slytherin down the stairs.

Duo snagged Sirius almost the instant the man turned back to his animagus form and started heading back towards the lower levels of the school. "I’m sure you noticed. Take me back so I can tell you."

Realizing the tension that was evident in the boy’s grip, if not his stance, voice or expression, he hurried to get the boy back to the dungeons.

Unfortunately, though, Blaise was waiting for them. "Hey," he said with a quiet smile. "Ready for Divination?"

Duo blinked at him, startled. "Divination...? Oh, crap! I forgot!" He cast an apologetic look at the animagus beside him. "Um, later?"

Sirius was more than a little unhappy about it, but he nodded his head anyway. After all, it wasn't like there was anything the kid could do about it. School was important.

...Did he just think that? Dear Merlin, he could hear Moony laughing now....

Blaise looked back and forth between them curiously. "Later? Later for what?"

The teenager's mind worked, trying to come up with an answer that didn't make him sound insane, expose Zechs or violate his self-imposed honesty. Then his eyes fell on the animagus, or rather his unkempt and not very clean fur. "I need to give the mutt a bath and a good combing," he said truthfully. "I guess I'll do it later."

The dark-haired Slytherin nodded, accepting the explanation. "Well, shall we go, then? Class starts in fifteen minutes."

Duo grinned. "Sure. Just let me grab my-" He paused as he felt something tug on his sleeve, and looked down to see the animagus' teeth fastened into the robe's material. "What, you want to come?"

Sirius nodded firmly, still not letting go. He'd listened to Harry complain about the Divination professor predicting his death too many times. It was time for him to take up his responsibilities as the boy's godfather.

Revenge on Sybil Trelawney seemed like a good place to start.

* * *

The trip to the Divinations classroom was rather quiet, and they met up with Harry and Ron not too far from the door of the classroom. "Hello."

Harry grinned at them. A few repeat performances of Duo dragging Blaise to the Gryffindor table to eat had mostly broken the ice between them, though they still weren't really friends. Ron _had_ stopped muttering that all Slytherins were evil with two such examples before him, though, so there was still hope. "Hey. You've got Divination with us, right?"

The American nodded. "Yep! Is it really up in some tower?"

"Yeah," Ron answered. "You even have to climb up this ladder to get into the classroom."

Duo frowned. "Climb up a ladder? What would happen if someone who was handicapped wanted to come here? And..." He suddenly blinked, and swiveled his head to stare at something behind him. "Hey, can you climb ladders?"

Sirius chuffed a little, moving up with the others to lean against Duo’s legs in amusement. He knew where it was. "Oh good, you can. Well, come on, no reason to be late."

Ron choked. "Si-Snuffles?! What are you doing?!"

The animagus sent him a tongue-lolling look that, had it been on a human, could have been nothing but a smirk. Harry stared at him for a few more seconds, then slowly grinned. "You're going to give her a heart attack, you know," he observed gleefully.

The Animagus just padded on ahead, following Duo up the ladder. Of _course_ he’d scare the bat. He wanted to freak her out, as intended. Her reaction wasn’t at all a disappointment, as the people behind the American heard a petrified shriek.

Then there was an abrupt 'thud!' followed by utter silence. Gathering up his Gryffindor courage, Harry crept up the ladder and peeked up over the edge of the entrance.

Professor Trelawney was lying crumpled on the floor, her ephemeral veils pooled around her. "Wicked..." he breathed out, climbing up the rest of the way. "Ron, get up here! You've got to see this!"

Ron crawled up beside Harry and a grin crossed his face. "Wicked is right."

They were cut off by the upset shrieks of Lavender and Pavarti. "How _could_ you? You brought an evil omen down on us!!"

As the two Gryffindors gaped at the furious girls, they heard Duo snicker. "Please. Don't any of you people have anything better to do than tell ghost stories and believe in fortune telling?"

Lavender looked at him like he was crazy. "There isn’t anything better to keep track of!"


	19. Chapter 18

With the bug-eyed professor down for the count, class was canceled, and two dozen students were joyfully released from the stuffy room an entire hour and a half ahead of schedule.

Nearly two dozen, that is, since the two Gryffindors with pink ties and ribbons in their hair stayed behind, sniffling tearfully as they waited for their beloved professor to wake up.

"Yes! Freedom!" Ron whooped, throwing his arms in the air. "Mate, you are the greatest!" he told Duo, grinning almost maniacally.

The American automatically smiled back, but he was distracted as he wondered if he should take the opportunity to pull Zechs aside and explain even more about his world. He was about to say that he needed to go back to his dorm, since he'd forgotten something (and he really had- the pen he had was nearly out of ink from all the notes he'd been taking in his tutoring sessions, and he'd meant to grab another one), when suddenly Harry turned to him, a quizzical look on his face.

He blinked as he spotted the expression, then the green-eyed boy spoke. “Would you like to go to the pitch and fly a bit with us?”

Duo shook his head a little, a slightly sheepish expression creeping over his face. “Sorry guys… I’ve never tried to man a _broom_.”

For a moment, Harry just stared at him. "You mean they haven't taught you how to fly yet?!" Oh, hell no! There was _no_ way he was going to let that stand. Potters were meant to fly!

The American indignantly straightened to his full height- not that it really changed things all that much, since he was still the shortest one there. "Oi! I _know_ how to fly! Just… not a broom," he finished sheepishly.

“Then what can you fly mate? I mean, I’ve flown a car, but that’s not at all the same as a broom.” Ron blushed a little when Harry looked at him. 

“Yeah, and _crashed_ said car.” He quickly looked back to the longhaired teen. “He does have a point though, what can you fly?”

“Anything. Planes, shuttles, mecha... anything I could get my mitts on. So, how about we get a broom on that list?” He was suddenly excited.

Sirius 'woofed' his agreement, unfazed by the rather impressive list, but Harry had to blink at him for a few moments before he'd recovered fully. "Sure," he finally answered with a growing smile. "Just let me stop by the Tower to pick up my broom."

* * *

Duo considered the broom that was being held out to him. Harry had told him a few of the things the broom could do. He was all for flying around on it... but still, he was a little dubious. It had no moving parts that he could determine after all.

"These things really fly?" he asked doubtfully, accepting it. It felt just like every other broom he'd ever held, just a piece of wood and a bundle of twigs that sane people would only use to sweep dirt off the front porch.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. There's two levitating spells on the broom itself, a main one and a backup in case the first one fails." He held up his hands as the American gave him a wide-eyed look. "Don't worry, the spells have been so refined that they almost never fail. I think the last time one did was… 1968?" he asked, glancing at Ron for confirmation.

The redhead nodded. "April fourth. In one of the Wimbourne Wasps' practices."

Hermione snorted, from where she stood a safe distance away next to Blaise. "You two can spend hours memorizing facts about _Quidditch_ , and you can't even be bothered to put a decent amount of effort into your homework?"

Harry colored a little and sighed, while the redhead looked oddly proud. “Well, it’s what books I have when I go home for the summer. You know I read whatever you send me, and Ron tends to send me lots of... Quidditch things.”

“That’s still no excuse, you have the entire school year to expand your interests!” She looked like she was about to set off into rant mode, and the American knew that look well. 

The braided teen hastily jumped in, causing the others to give him a slightly puzzled look. “Of course, well, we’ll just have to find a way to make that interesting for him, right? Okay then. Now, you were explaining about the broom?”

Harry shook his head, getting himself back on track. "Right. Er, there's a lot of spells on a broom, really. Some of them are safety features, or backups, but most are for stuff like not icing up if you're flying during a snowstorm."

Duo nodded, though he couldn't really imagine why anyone'd want to fly during a snowstorm unless they were suicidal. "And, well… it might be easier if we just give you a book to learn all the technical stuff from," the Gryffindor said with a sly grin. "That way we can just skip to the actual flying."

The braided teenager beamed. "A man after my own heart." He stepped away from the little group. "Okay, so how do I do this?"

Harry thought back to his early lessons with Hooch and decided to go from there. “If you’ve never done it before we should start with you summoning the broom to you.”

The older teen sighed, giving the green-eyed boy a look. “You _are_ allowed to be more specific y’know.”

Harry grinned. "Put the broom on the ground," he ordered. Duo complied, then stood there, looking at him expectantly. "Hold your hand out over it, and say 'up'. Try to be firm about it, but not too much, or you'll hurt its feelings."

The American blinked. Was he serious…? He looked again at the Gryffindor's innocent face, and couldn't be sure. "Okay..." Duo held out his hand. "Up!" he commanded, trying to put the same note in his voice that Quatre seemed to use almost unconsciously, the one that said 'obey me, because you really don't have any other choice and I'll be nicer if you do'.

And apparently, that tone worked with inanimate objects, too, because the broom promptly smacked into his palm.

Pleased that he’d done that correctly, he looked to Harry, who grinned. “Great! Now, you have to get on it.”

“You mean like, sideways? I can’t see how it would be comfortable that way either but…” He trailed off with a grimace.

The black haired boy snickered, shaking his head. “No, straddle it. I know it sounds like it should hurt, but it won’t.” 

Ron was giving them both a puzzled look.

"You know," he commented, "for someone who's so eager to fly, you're doing an awful lot of talking."

"And I hate to admit it, but the Weasel's got a point," drawled a syrupy voice from over to the side. They all looked over to see Draco Malfoy leaning against the stands.

“Well, you have to give a guy a chance to get used to a new device. It always takes me a few minutes to orient myself to a new machine, so this can’t be much different.” Duo sent a smirk towards Draco. “Just give me a second and I’ll show you real flying.”

He carefully put one leg over the broom, and looked to Harry for further instructions. "All right. Pull up on the front of the broom to go up, push down to go down," the green-eyed wizard lectured. "Lean forward to accelerate, back to slow down, sit straight up to hover in place."

"Sounds simple enough…" Duo said consideringly, studying the broom between his legs. "Well, let's do this, then!" And with that, before Harry could warn him, the boy pulled up on the front of the broom, _hard_.

* * *

Severus had gotten a sort of reprieve for most of the week. He’d seen little of the infuriating new student, but unfortunately for him, he decided to look out the window of the hall he was walking in as he returned to his dungeons from a meeting with Dumbledore. Apparently the infuriatingly new boy was trying to fly, and he was going about it in a manner that nearly made his heart stop.

"Oh, bloody hell…" For once completely disregarding how it would look should anyone be near enough to see, the former Death Eater rushed to the window, his face paling as the young wizard shot up into the sky at a speed that deceived the eyes into seeing only a blur.

When the boy made no signs of coming down, Severus further abandoned his normal air and hurried toward the pitch, a positively murderous look crossing his face as he realized that the mutt hadn’t stopped the boy from trying that without proper supervision.

* * *

It was incredible.

There were simply no other words to describe it. He'd thought it would be like the first time G had let him fly a shuttle- a rush, a calling, but... _this_...

The wind buffeted his face, an almost solid blow, and played havoc with his braid, whipping it through the air until Duo was almost worried the tie would come undone, but those were minor annoyances, eclipsed by the promise of freedom the wind whispered in his ears as it screamed past.

This... this was _flying_. This was the wild freedom that he'd never realized had been denied to him by closed cockpits and metal shells. This was...

He laughed madly, throwing himself into a fluid loop-de-loop that threatened to set the very air on fire. Hell, why not just call it what it was?

 _Heaven_.

* * *

When Severus reached the pitch, he realized that his actions might have been hasty. He didn’t have much chance to react at all anyway as near insane laughter drew his eyes skyward as well. He failed to comprehend how the boy found his clear lack of control at all amusing.

"Damn it, Duo, _slow down_!" He heard Potter shout frantically, and a second later Black's booming bark seconded the motion. The animagus' wide eyes never left the distant figure above as it burned through the sky.

"How the bloody hell is he getting it to go so fast?" Weasley muttered, almost to himself. He glanced at his fellow Gryffindor. "I mean, not even _you_ make it go that fast!"

"That's because I'm not insane, what Rita Skeeter says to the contrary," Potter answered, distracted by the mid-air antics of the new student. "Or suicidal!"

Severus collected himself and glared at the green-eyed boy, then at the other boys with him, one of whom was Draco. “Whose idea was this? And why didn’t you stop this foolishness?” The first at Harry, the second bit was snapped at Draco with a sharp look to the Animagus beside him. 

The Professor then turned to peer up into the sky again. “Stop that at once!”

For a moment the American didn't seem to hear him, but then the darting flyer slowed, and curved gracefully down to hover just above the group of wizards. "Yeah, Sev? What is it?" Duo chirped cheerfully.

Twitching slightly over the nickname, the man glared up at the boy staying just beyond his reach. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The American laughed, a bright grin crossing his face. “Flying, of course. This is _so_ much better than anything else I’ve flown. Well, for fun anyway.” He wouldn’t forsake Deathscythe so easily. It had practically been alive after all, his buddy.

Severus spluttered indignantly. " _Flying_?! That wasn't flying, that was you trying to get your fool neck broken!"

Duo smirked. "Well, it ain't fun if there isn't _some_ danger..."

The potions master stared at him in disbelief. "Are you sure you're not a Gryffindor?" he demanded incredulously.

Duo grinned widely and leaned to the side until he was hanging upside down. “I’m not brave Sevvikins, not at all brave compared to my old friends. I just really love to fly.”


	20. Chapter 19

Severus studied him with dark, narrowed eyes. "Indeed…" He watched as the boy almost absently flew a bit lower, still hanging from the broom. "Congratulations, Mr. Potter," the professor directed over his shoulder.

The Gryffindor stared at him, confused. "Sir?" he asked hesitantly.

The potions master smirked. "Why not? After all, you just found your rival team a new, rather gifted Quidditch player…"

Duo blinked a few times and gave Severus an odd look. "You aren't talking about me are you?"

The pale man raised an eyebrow. "But who else would I be referring to?"

"The invisible kid flying just over my left shoulder," the American deadpanned. Which was a rather odd sight, considering he was still upside-down…

Severus chose to ignore this. "Mr. Malfoy," he called out. "If you would, next time you see Mr. Flint, arrange for a session to determine just where we will be placing Mr. Maxwell."

Draco looked like he dearly wanted to protest, but he'd been a bit in awe of the boy's natural abilities himself… "Of course Professor." He just hoped the boy had the good sense to realize who was _really_ in charge of the team.

Duo himself was still rather doubtful. "I dunno… I still don't know much about Quidditch."

"We'll fill you in," Harry offered, ignoring the vitriolic glance he received from Draco Malfoy. Slytherin or not, on the _rival team_ or not, he was still family.

And besides, as long as he wasn't a seeker… Hell, maybe the Slytherin team would finally get a player that wouldn't play dirty.

Then the Boy-Who-Lived took another look at the mischievous light in his descendant's eyes as the teenager grinned happily at him. Wouldn't play _very_ dirty…

* * *

Severus couldn't believe that. The boy was flying around like a lunatic and he went and told him he'd be joining a team in which that was completely permissible. Not to mention the fact that when he'd left to resume his trek to the dungeons, the boy showed no indication that he was coming down.

Unfortunately, his voyage to his nice quiet office was again interrupted. This time by the new defense teacher.

"Severus! Oh, Severus, do wait up!"

He cringed as the sickly-sweet voice echoed down the hallway behind him. Also unfortunately, there were no doors close enough to slip through, so there was no way he could simply pretend he hadn't heard her. "Yes, Umbridge?" he asked snidely, turning to face the foul beast.

"You weren't heading back to those musty old dungeons alone again were you?" With his lack of instantaneous reply she continued. "You were! Well, we can't be having that, you and I really must talk over tea." 

Severus barely managed to dodge her grip. "Really, that isn't necessary, I have papers to grade and I shall be far too busy for company."

She pouted, a grown woman somehow managing to seem like a simpering schoolgirl. "Oh, surely you could spare a few minutes? It gets so lonely sometimes… Tea is meant to be talked over," she pleaded sweetly, even going so far as to batt her ridiculously long eyelashes at him.

Severus resisted the urge to vomit. "I have never found it so," he said plainly. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" He turned to leave, and the witch was about to catch his arm with her claw-like hands when a third voice distracted them both.

"Doom… doom…" Professor Sybil Trelawney came drifting down the hallway, the gauzy rags she called robes floating out in her wake. "Oh, Dolores, you must help me," she beseeched the startled woman. "I have seen my doom! You must slay it, that horrible, horrible beast…"

Smirking, Severus turned his back on them both in favor of a dignified escape. That bug of a seer had her uses, sometimes…

Herself unable to escape the clutches of the Divination professor, Dolores Umbridge stared after the retreating wizard and felt her lips curl into a snarl. Damn it! Now she'd have to find some other way of getting Veritaserum into the horrible man.

Her dear Cornelius had told her himself that Severus Snape was a Death Eater, and if it was the last thing she did, she'd bring her wonderful mentor proof of his dreadful, appalling practice of the Dark Arts.

She smiled dreamily at the thought. Cornelius would be so proud of her…

* * *

Severus was so pleased with his escape, he was completely caught off guard when he saw a note on his desk that stated there had been a problem, and Poppy wanted to see him about her potions stores. 

"Can I not get a break?" He looked over the note again. "Of course, bad question."

Sighing, he glanced at the grandfather clock standing in the corner of his office. There was just enough time to go down and see Poppy before he needed to get ready for his first class of the day…

And so, a few minutes later he was storming into the Hospital Wing, since the corridors were most thankfully empty of harpy-descended fellow professors. "Poppy?" he called out, glancing around the surprising empty room. Usually, by this time students were pouring in as they discovered just how much they'd forgotten over the summer…

"Severus! Thank goodness, I was worried you wouldn't get my note until after classes were underway. I'm afraid Peeves has struck again, he got all my minor potions and burn solutions." 

She came at him from the right, at least her exuberance led to that impression. "If you'd make me a list, I'll see what I can accomplish before the first rush of injuries."

The matron nodded. "Anything would help. Without those potions, I'm restricted to spells for anything less than a broken arm, and you know how often those go wrong. Especially in a school with this much stray magic to warp the spells. I _do_ wish healing magic wasn't so sensitive…"

Severus waited as she grabbed a scroll of parchment and a quill and scratched out a disturbingly long list of potions. "Peeves managed all of this?"

"I'm afraid so, he must have gotten here just after I stepped out for breakfast." She shook her head and handed it to him. "I'm so sorry all your hard work was wasted, but I did salvage what I could."

"It's not your fault, he's a menace, and we really need to find some way of controlling him. I thought it was made clear that the medical supplies were off limits!" The potions master scowled, heading for the door. 

"They were, but apparently something changed. Thank you for this Severus." Poppy watched him pause in the door.

"No thanks are required." Then he stepped back out, cursing his ill luck.

As he strode back towards his dungeons, he was already planning each step in his mind. That many potions would take a great deal of time to brew, and now that he had to handle pretending to be a faithful little Death Eater on top of classes and giving that worrisome brat lessons…

He hit a stumbling block in his plans when he remembered the other two days of the week that were reserved... Maxwell. It was enough to make a man want to obliviate himself. Though… The boy _was_ rather talented with potions. With a little guidance he might even prove an asset in restoring the ruined potions instead of a hindrance. He'd catch the boy once he was finished with his classes.

* * *

Duo sighed in relief as Blaise finally accepted his assurances that he'd catch up with him in the Great Hall in a few minutes. Honestly, he liked the kid, but sometimes he was too stubborn for his own good…

Not that he could talk, the former pilot admitted. There had been a few _memorable_ occasions…

The sound of the younger Slytherin's footsteps gradually faded away, and Duo turned to the animagus now sitting cross-legged on his bed. "So, um, time for that chat, right?"

Sirius nodded, leaning his elbows on his legs. "Yes, time for that chat. I'm almost completely sure that he didn't see your reaction, since he was looking at me… But… Why?"

"It's not exactly a short story…" Duo caught his intent expression. "But I can give a short explanation."

The wizard nodded. "Please."

Duo sighed and walked over the bed, plopping down beside his friend. "Alright… You know the story about us pilots. What you _don't_ know is that we were all chosen, by five… I don't want to call them doctors, 'cause there is _no_ way any of them took the Hippocratic Oath, but…" He grimaced as Sirius shot him a look. "Right. Moving on...

"There were five doctors, one for each of us. G was the one who picked me to train- I'd stowed away on his ship, after all. He was actually a pretty good guy, at least compared to the others. But the worst… the worst was J. Heero's doc."

The teenager was silent for a long moment, and Sirius was quick to ask a question, not liking the sudden shadows in his cobalt eyes. "Why was he the worst?"

Duo glanced up at him. "He was the worst because… of how he treated Heero. How he trained him." The American propped his head on his hands. "J believed… that a soldier, the Perfect Soldier, shouldn't have emotions, shouldn't feel, shouldn't even _think_ about anything but the mission. And he trained Heero… accordingly."

Sirius pushed himself off his elbows with a horrible sinking feeling. "Duo, why did you look at Dumbledore like that?" His voice was low.

"Because _he_ is J." And Duo's words only confirmed the suspicion. "He's one of the mad five…"

Automatically, the Gryffindor opened his mouth to defend his former Headmaster, to tell the young man before him that Dumbledore was too honorable, too _good_ to do something like that… and couldn't. Because he wasn't.

And because the old man was trying to do something so horribly similar to his own godson.

Sirius closed his mouth and let out a breath. "I don't want to have to agree with you."

Duo cocked his head to the side. "But you do anyway," he said softly, almost sadly.

The older man sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

The American nodded, staring off into the distance for a minute. "So, what'd he do here?"

Sirius blinked. "Huh?"

"You know. What's he done in this time to make you react like that?" Duo clarified.

The Animagus looked to the side slightly. "I told you Harry is my godson, haven't I?"

Duo blinked, then shook his head. "Actually, no, you hadn't."

"Well, he is. Dumbledore was the person who cast the Fidelius Charm for James and Lily, Harry's parents." He paused, as though that were important, and his eyes opened a little wider for a split second. That was true… The man had known all this time he was innocent…

"What is it?" Duo asked, concerned by the sudden disquietude in his friend's eyes. He put his hand on the man's shoulder.

Startled by the contact, Sirius glanced over at him. "He cast the spell… He knew I wasn't the secret keeper, knew _I_ wasn't the one who'd betrayed them…"

The former Gundam pilot's eyes narrowed, showing just a tinge of violet. There would have to be a reckoning, then. But… later. The old man still had his uses. Duo could wait.

Shaking himself out of his shock, the convict put himself back into his narrative. "After they died, he put Harry with Lily's muggle sister and her husband. They despise magic… If there had been any way, I would have made sure he never needed to see those people. It had to be horrible there, since barely after meeting me, Harry was all for coming to live with me, escaped convict and all. I haven't managed to get all the details… but Dumbledore is making sure that Harry believes it's his job to deal with _Voldemort_ …" The name was practically spat out. 

Seeing he had the boy's rapt attention, he added his own opinion. "It isn't right… Harry doesn't deserve something like that. But I don't think I have much chance of convincing him otherwise anymore…"

Duo looked thoughtful. "Huh… Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we…?" He blinked at a sudden thought. "Hey, just why does everyone think Harry's the one to do it? Is it just a 'he did it once, he'll have to do it again' type thing? Or is there an actual reason?"

Sirius frowned. "I think it's mostly that, but… Dumbledore has acted… oddly, a few times, when the subject was brought up. I can't help the feeling that he knows something we don't."

"Then we'll just have to find out what that is, won't we?" A smirk on his face, the teen started to plan.


	21. Chapter 20

Hermione shot a look across the Great Hall, over to where a certain braided teenager sat for once among his housemates. "It still seems strange…" she murmured.

"What does?" Ron asked, swallowing his mouthful of chicken.

The witch glanced over at Duo again. "That Harry and Duo are related. I mean, it's not like they're very much alike."

Ron blinked, then looked over at her before shaking his head. "I don't know about that, I mean, he's hinted at a few things that make me wonder. Besides… even if it turns out to be some trick, they're both happy with it, right?"

There was a pause as the girl took in the words, and she was opening her mouth on something that looked to be an argument when a new voice entered the conversation. "Who're both happy? Are you two talking about Harry? He has seemed overly happy since he came into the hall with you two…"

The two of them shared an uncertain look, before Ron turned to his sister. "They, um, found out they have a few things in common."

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him, her hair flame-red in the Hall's candlelight. "Alright, what are you three hiding now?"

They shared another look, and Hermione caught her friend's eye. "It's… really not our story to tell, Ginny," she said awkwardly. "I don't know how much…"

Anger filled her face. "I'm not eleven anymore!" Ginny half-shouted. "You can _trust_ me with things!"

There was another quick, shared glance before they reached out as one to pull the girl to sit between them, Ron already talking. "It's not that! This really isn't the place for us to be telling anything…" 

"Ron!" Hermione's tone was scathing, but she didn't get further before the boy was shaking his head.

"It's true!" Satisfied he cut her off, he looked to Ginny. "Look, we can't talk about this here, okay? We just found out about a… relationship that Harry has with someone, that's all. You know how dangerous that would be."

There was a moment of quiet, then puzzlement, before the redheaded girl raised an eyebrow. "You only just found out about Luna?"

Ron and Hermione were known for their squabbles. They would fight about any little thing, from Ron's habit of chewing with his mouth open to how much time the witch spent in the library. If one said something, the other was very nearly guaranteed to correct it.

Which is why it was rather surprising when they acted in concert in this one instance. Their eyes went round and their jaws dropped as they stared at the younger girl.

"Luna?!"

* * *

Not even noticing the fact they were being followed by a highly curious Ginny, both Ron and Hermione headed out of the Great Hall to track down their dear, secret keeping friend. Neither could believe he'd keep something so momentous as a girlfriend a secret from them, but there was no denying it, he had!

Hermione caught sight of him first, sitting over near the window in the common room, which was mostly empty due to everyone being at dinner. "Harry Potter! Why didn't you _tell_ us?"

Harry twisted towards the newcomers, shocked. "W-what?" The only things he could think of that would get _this_ kind of reaction were Duo's revelations, and he _had_ told them about those. "What are you talking about?"

"Mate, why didn't you tell me you were dating Luna?" Ron ignored Hermione's "Tell _me_?" in the background, just as he ignored Harry's steadily reddening face. "I thought we were best friends?"

"We _are_! It's just…" Harry shook his head. "Wait. Why do you think Luna and I are together?"

There was a little cough from the girl that had followed the pair, who had gone ignored by them all. "Sorry about that Harry, I didn't realize you'd been keeping it such a secret. Luna told me about… well."

The green eyed wizard watched his friends whip around, a good reaction, considering that he felt his face flame. "Guys…" When that just brought all attention back to him, he peered up at the ceiling. "It's not like that."

Ginny twitched an eyebrow. "Really?"

Harry was sure he couldn't get any redder. "We're just friends," he said quickly. "I like talking to her."

"I see…" The redhead didn't look at all convinced, but then she sat up as a thought struck her. "Wait… If Luna wasn't who you were talking about before, who is? You mentioned Duo…" She turned to look at Harry, her hazel eyes enormous. "You're dating _Duo_?!"

There was a moment of confusion, then utter horror crossed the green-eyed teen's face. "What? No! No, don't even think that! I couldn't-!" He turned his gaze on Ron and Hermione, making a futile gesture to express his feelings on the idea, and his lack of real human speak.

Ginny stared, taking a step back from her friend turned madman, hands raising in a placating manner. "Harry, if it's not that then what is it?"

The boy's mouth worked a moment more before the words came to him. "Duo's time-traveling. He's my great-grandson. Sort of."

Ginny still stared at him, though for a rather different reason. "Oh…" she said, before abruptly sitting down.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a chair there, so she thumped rather loudly to the ground. The sound broke the other two teenagers out of their stupor, and Hermione rushed to make sure she was okay, while Ron leaned against the wall next to Harry as he laughed his arse off. "I can't believe… she really thought…" he managed to gasp out in between guffaws.

"It's not funny! That's like…" He paused, then gave Ron a triumphant look as he found something that might be an appropriate comparison. "That's like someone going and saying you're dating Charlie, or your mum even!"

Ron fell silent almost immediately, making a rather interesting face. "Ew! Just… that's just nasty mate."

This time, it was Hermione that burst into laughter.

Harry turned his face back to the window, all the better to hide the relieved smile on his lips. At least they weren't talking about Luna anymore…

* * *

Duo felt a cold nose nudge leg, and almost automatically palmed a roll and held it under the table. Sirius took it delicately between his teeth and made it vanish as surely as though he'd used magic.

The action got Blaise to glance over, and he shook his head, noticing the way the hall was clearing out. "Hey, what has you so distracted? You've hardly eaten any of your dinner yourself."

The words finally got the boy to blink back to himself, gaze dropping to take in the lack on his plate, before he flitted his gaze to his friend. "You sure?"

Blaise snorted. "Come on, Maxwell. You're not _that_ good at sneaking. It's obvious your mutt's under the table eating everything that lands on your plate." He reached for a bowl of mashed potatoes and glopped a spoonful onto the American's plate. A couple pieces of chicken followed, and he pointed to them. "Now _eat_. It's no wonder you're so short, if you never eat."

Duo couldn't help a scowl, remembering his years on the streets when he was lucky to get more than a couple of mouthfuls a day. "Bit too late to do anything about it, don't you think?" he shot back, his voice more heated than he'd meant it to be.

The other Slytherin was taken aback, and realized he must have hit a sore spot. "Maybe," he answered noncommittally. A change of topic would probably be best. "So, what _does_ have you staring off into space?"

"Just… things. Not really anything I should be talking about." He shook his head, picking up his fork as he flashed the other boy a faint smirk. "But don't get worried, okay? Nothing that'll get you in trouble or anything."

Well aware of the shift in the conversation, but not quite able to grasp how the mood had changed, he shook his head. "I wasn't even worried about that, but, if you did have something in mind… you'd clue me in, right?"

Duo let out a short laugh. "Of course."

"Somehow, Mr. Maxwell, that does not reassure me." Blaise's face went blank after a brief spasm of guilt crossed it, and he turned his attention to his own plate as his head of house leaned down to speak to his friend.

"What's up, Sevvie?" the American asked, a manic grin on his face, but to Severus it felt like there was something almost… off, about the expression.

There was a small twitch, then the professor leaned down, looming into their space menacingly. "Mr. Maxwell, you are to come to the infirmary this evening for your lessons." A glare was flicked between one student to the other. "And I will be hearing no more about any plots."

Duo's grin grew slightly as the professor pulled back. "The infirmary? Aww, and here I haven't managed to get injured. So concerned."

"For your lessons! Your mutt will not be allowed past the infirmary doors, so leave him elsewhere when you finish your meal." Fairly growling the last, the man left in a swirl of cloth.

* * *

Poppy peered through the glass in his office window at the two figures bent over a cauldron. She didn't have any overnight patients at the moment, so she had let them set up their equipment in the Hospital Wing itself since the fumes wouldn't complicate anyone's recovery. Even as she watched, the smaller one gestured animatedly towards the cauldron, and they engaged in a lively discussion as she chuckled.

Even if she doubted Severus would ever admit it, he and young Mr. Maxwell (or Duo, as he'd laughingly insisted on being called) worked quite well together. Why, they'd only been at it for a couple of hours and half her list of needed potions had already been crossed off! Speaking of the time, though, it _was_ getting quite late…

Moving into the area when it seemed there was a little lull between one potion and the next, the mediwitch cleared her throat. "I'm more than happy you two managed to get so much done, but I won't have either of you becoming patients here tonight because you collapsed of exhaustion."

Mouth open to speak, Duo turned his head, looking over at the woman. "What? Nah, we're good! We're just working on through, see?"

Poppy gave him a righteous glare. The fact she was becoming fond of the rambunctious boy only made the look all the more pointed. "It's late, and you've been breathing in potions fumes for two hours." She glanced at Severus, who was looking at the clock on the wall and was obviously surprised so much time had passed. "I know you're used to working all night long, but I refuse to let a student attempt it. Perhaps you should escort him back to his dorms?"

"Of course, Poppy." Severus knew better than to defy the mediwitch, even if he was rather disappointed at having to stop. She always got even some way, usually a way much worse than whatever you had managed to avoid. Maxwell started to protest, but he gave the younger wizard a look, and amazingly he quieted.

"G'night Lady P!" Duo raised a hand, letting his head of house direct him along towards the doors once they collected the few things that would be returning to the dungeons with them. As it was, he knew that Sirius had to be waiting anxiously on the other side. Unless he had wandered off that is.

And, of course, he had. Duo wasn't really all that surprised; he was beginning to suspect the animagus had an even shorter attention span than he did. Sirius was older than he was, but in many ways he acted like he'd never matured past twenty, and from what Harry had told him in whispered conversations it was because of that Azkaban place.

The pilot shuddered, remembering those stories. Prison was bad enough, but a place guarded by things that made you relive your worst memories? He wouldn't survive a week in there. His nightmares were bad enough…

Severus bidding Poppy a good evening, as well as closing the doors, broke past the teenager's thoughts. "Come along Mr. Maxwell, we mustn't clutter up the hallways at all hours of the night."

"Yeah, I hear ya." He huffed, peering after the man before hurrying to catch up. "So, what was up with the billywig stingers?" Duo asked once he'd managed to find a rhythm with the professor's longer stride. "Adding 'em after the crushed snake fangs, I mean."

Contrary to popular opinion, Severus did truly enjoy teaching, but only those who actually put some effort into understanding his art instead of merely learning formulas by rote. It was why he despised Granger; she used memorization as a short cut in a discipline that required true comprehension. "Snake fangs are a clarifying agent. To add them before would be to cancel out the muscle-relaxing effect of the stingers."

"So that was why you added them in the end. But you didn't do that with the other formula. There wasn't any fang in that one at all before you threw them in." He was talking about the pixy pox cure that they'd started the evening with, one hand waving a bit to clarify his meaning. 

"That particular property isn't the one that was being used for that potion. Instead of a relaxant, it was being used to boost the speed at which that particular potion would drain the sores." He sounded almost bored as he spoke, but there was no denying the obvious delight the boy had in understanding the answers he was getting.

In fact, he could almost _see_ the information being carefully filed away for further contemplation. "Well, what about-" 

Severus held up a hand to interrupt, seeing that they'd reached the Slytherin entrance unnoticed. "That's enough for tonight, Mr. Maxwell." For once the name was said without any particular rancor. "I'll expect you to join me in the Hospital Wing again after tomorrow's supper. You can ask me whatever questions you wish then."

Duo looked disappointed, but he nodded with a sigh. "Alright, teach. Expect a lot of them, though." He turned and spoke the password. "Oyasumi!"

To his astonishment, Severus felt a smile twitching his lips, and he ruthlessly suppressed it as the young American passed from sight. "And a good night to you as well, Mr. Maxwell," he said quietly.

It was only when he was very nearly at his rooms that the conversation replayed itself in his mind, and he stopped in the middle of the hallway. Severus had never been to Japan; there were currently no Japanese students attending Hogwarts, though there were two of Chinese descent. He did not know the language.

So how in the bloody blazes had he understood the boy?


	22. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this concludes all previously written material. Any further chapters will be without a coauthor.

Blaise scowled, and stepped back to consider his options. Plan A, also known as “poking”, hadn’t worked; neither had calling his friend’s name, so that just left… Plan C. Grinning sadistically, the teenager leaned back over his bed and gave his friend a violent pinch. He wasn’t at all expecting to be flat on his back the next moment, with Duo kneeling on his chest and the point of a strange-looking knife tickling the lashes of his left eye.

The sensation didn't last long, and a moment later the knife and weight were gone, the other boy's hand being offered, and he eyed it for a moment before accepting the gesture so he could be pulled to something more upright. "What brought that on? It was only a bit of a friendly pinch."

It took a moment before he looked back to the other boy's face, and when he did a sheepish smile appeared, accompanied full with the boy rubbing the back of his head with his other hand, the blade nowhere in sight. "Sorry about that, I don't take startling so well when I wake up."

"You don't take it well… I hadn't noticed, what with you nearly putting my eye out."

The American flushed, scowling. “It wasn’t like I meant to. Just… don’t grab me, ‘kay? I sort of like you. Hurting you wouldn’t exactly help me sleep at night.” He only just managed to censor his mouth in time, but he was glad he had; Blaise was still looking at him like someone had let a madman into their dorm. ‘Killing you’ instead of ‘hurting you’ couldn’t possibly have made things better. 

Hard to think about how they could be worse, though, as Blaise backed away, keeping him carefully in sight. “Yeah… sure. Next time I’ll throw something. Preferably from across the room.”

For the first time Duo looked around at their dorm, and thanked all the gods he cared for that the other boys had already cleared out. “Sorry,” he said again, tucking the knife back in its hiding place under his pillow.

"Hey, no problem. I won't be forgetting the warning anytime soon." Holding up his hands and giving him a brief smile, apparently trying to show no hard feelings, the other boy collected his bag and lifted it so he could see. "Time for Astronomy now though. Meet you there, yeah?"

"Yeah…" The word was more of a sigh than anything, the other boy ducking out almost before he'd managed the answer, apparently still spooked. 

Well, fuck.

* * *

Severus didn’t like mornings. Mind you, he didn’t particularly like any time of the day, except perhaps after classes had finished and he could brew a potion in blissful, brat-free silence, so it was difficult to tell. It would have taken someone sitting very close to him, who knew him very well- a short list of people indeed- to notice that on this morning especially, the potions master was in a fouler mood than usual.

And the reason for it had just walked through the doors into the Great Hall, trudging towards the Slytherin table and looking like death warmed over.

Without realizing, immediately at least, that he was getting a rather scalding look, Duo made his way to his favorite seat and just took a moment, once seated, to lay his head on the hardwood. He only twitched a little when a plate popping up just an inch from his nose. Still needed to get used to that.

At least he wasn't the only one in a mess though. Did they really have to be up so _early_ after astrology? It didn't seem very fair…

“Hey,” said a quiet voice across the table, and Duo flicked his eyes up to see a wary-looking Blaise settle onto the bench. The boy didn’t look at him immediately, instead busying himself with his bag and plate.

“Hey,” the pilot said back, lifting his head up. “Um. So…”

Blaise sighed, finally meeting Duo’s eyes. “Look, I’m not going to denounce you or anything, okay? Not unless you really give me a reason to. I get that you didn’t mean it, I really do. I just… need a bit to get over it. It’s not every day I almost get stabbed by accident.”

"Well I'd hope not…" Trailing off, he let the almost teasing tone fade out of his voice, getting a bit more serious. "I can wait for you to get it worked out. Won't even hold it against you or anything, deal?"

"Alright. I need to catch Millie for some notes, so I'll be off for now, but I'm not running, I've just got some schooling to get done while I get my head together." The other boy hesitated a moment, then gave him a small smile and dipped his head in a nod before walking off. 

He felt tension easing out of his shoulders with the small actions, and he ended up slumping back in his seat to eye his empty plate. _Well that's one thing taken care of._

“Trouble in the serpent’s den?”

Duo sometimes hated the reflexes being a Gundam pilot had given him. He was too tired to jump in surprise, but that didn’t keep him from a full-body twitch; at least this time was able to keep from grabbing for a knife. “No trouble, just hopefully temporary awkwardness,” he addressed over his shoulder to whichever twin had spoken. “So where have you two been?”

"We've been here-"

"-Been there too. All over the place really." 

As the pair sat down, one of either side of him, he forced himself to relax, letting out a sigh as he leaned back on the bench a fraction so he could watch them both while they loaded his plate for him. "Haven't seen you though. You look bushed."

Duo groaned. “You have no idea. Astronomy lesson last night, after staying up cooking up potions with Sevvie, and then the Drama Queen had an episode with his lost hair gel this morning that woke me up…”

A twin- Fred, he was fairly sure, something about the grin that was pulling at his lips- patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. “Not so sure your day’s going to get better, mate.”

His brother nodded. “Think Snape’s got it in for you-”

“-And bad. He’s been giving you the evil eye since you walked in.”

Blinking at the words, he turned to glance to the head table where the man was, indeed, trying to bore a hole in his back through sheer force of will. "Well shit." Looking back to the other two, he shook his head. "I haven't even done anything. Hell, Sevvie bumpkins there and me parted on a nice note last night, so I don't know what could've changed between then and now."

"Well it had to be something-"

"-Because he doesn’t seem like he's going to let off the look anytime soon." They both nodded and leaned in closer, giving him looks that were more concerned than they'd been a moment before.

"You don't have any classes with him today, do you?"

"It would be a right scary thing with him in that mood I'd think."

Duo risked another look at the fuming professor. “We’re supposed to brew some more healing potions tonight, actually. Crap. Any ideas?”

They exchanged a glance. “Take a bloody steak with you and toss it in the room first.”

“And carry a big stick.”

“You know, just in case. Wouldn’t want our potential partner-”

“Getting mauled by his professor before we can actually prank anybody,” George finished with a firm nod.

Duo had to snicker at them, despite his sense of foreboding. Really, Sev was no pushover, but he wasn’t exactly a Gundam pilot out for revenge and his braid, either. Being able to call Heero and Wufei his friends had left the American with an extraordinarily thick skin.


End file.
